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State
[AL-GA] [HI-MD] [MA-NJ] [NM-SC] [SD-WY] revised December 28, 2010
[Primary June 1; Runoff July 13].
Active
Registered Voters: 2,586,282. Ballots Cast:
1,388,934
(53.70%).
Governor: In the
race
to succeed Gov. Bob Riley (R), state
Rep. Robert Bentley (R)
defeated Ag. Comm. Ron
Sparks (D) by 58.4% to 41.6%. Republicans also won the
six other statewide offices and the three Supreme Court races.
U.S. Senate: Sen. Richard
Shelby (R) easily
defeated attorney Willam
Barnes
(D) in his bid for
a fifth term, 65.7% to 34.2%.
U.S. House: Balance
goes from 5R-2D to 6R-1D; three new members
elected. In the
2nd
CD (SE corner including Montgomery), freshman Rep.
Bobby Bright (D) lost to Montgomery City Councilwoman Martha
Roby (R) by 51.5% to 48.5%. There were two open House
seats.
In the 5th CD (northern AL), where party switcher Rep. Parker Griffith
(R) lost in the primary, Madison
County Commissioner Mo Brooks (R) defeated Steve Raby (D) by 57.9% to
42.1%. In the 7th CD (western AL), open due to Rep. Artur Davis
(D)'s unsuccessful campaign for the gubernatorial nomination, Birmingham attorney Terri
Sewell
(D) easily defeated Don
Chamberlain (R) by 72.5% to 27.5%
Legislature: Democrats
lost
control
of
both
chambers
of
the
Legislature,
which
they
had
controlled
since
the
1870s.
All
seats
were
up.
The
balance
went
from
60D-45R
in
the House and 20D-14R-1I/O
in
the
Senate
to
62R-43D and
22R-12D, 1I/O.
Republicans pick up one U.S. House seat and two legislative chambers.
[Primary August 24].
Registered Voters: 494,876. Ballots Cast: 205,231
(41.47%).
Lisa Murkowski became
the first candidate to win election to the U.S. Senate as a write-in
candidate since Strom Thurmond in 1954.
Governor: Seeking
election on his own right, Gov. Sean
Parnell
(R) defeated former State House
Minority Leader Ethan Berkowitz (D) by 58.7% to 38.1% with the remainder
going to frequent candidates
Don Wright (AIP) and Billy Toien (L). Parnell ascended to the
office when Gov. Palin resigned. Berkowitz ran for lieutenant
governor on the
Knowles ticket in 2006 and for U.S. House in 2008.
U.S. Senate: Having
lost the Republican primary to Tea Party backed attorney Joe
Miller (R), Sen. Lisa
Murkowski announced
on Sept. 17 that she was running as a write-in candidate. On
November 2 "write-ins" finished first, and Murkowski appeared to have
defeated Miller
and
Sitka
Mayor Scott McAdams (D), as well as David
Haase
(L) and petition
candidates Tim Carter
and Ted Gianoutsos. The initial tally showed
"write-ins" at 40.1% to 35.5% for Miller and 23.4% for
McAdams; the difference was about 11,000 votes. The saga
continued however. The Miller campaign said
it was "cautiously
optimistic," arguing that many write-in votes were likely to be
disqualified and pointing to at least 26,000 absentee ballots. Actual counting of the
write-in ballots did not begin until November 10. On
November 9 Miller filed a lawsuit to prevent officials from exercising
discretion in counting write-in votes with misspellings or
other problems (a "voter intent" standard rather than the standard set
out in a strict reading of the letter of the law). During the
count
Miller's observers
challenged thousands
of
votes. The Miller campaign also brought in Floyd Brown as an
advisor and on November 11 announced it had set up a voter fraud
hotline. The count of the 103,805 write-in votes showed 92,929
unchallenged votes for Murkowski, another 8,159 for Murkowski
challenged and counted, and 2,016 challenged and not counted; Miller's
total was 90,740. On November 17 Murkowski declared
victory. Miller sued to stop the state from certifying the
results, and on November 19 the U.S. District Court in Anchorage issued
a preliminary injunction, but on December 28 the judge dismissed the
suit, clearing the way for Murkowski's win to be certified.
U.S. House:
Rep. Don Young (R),
who has served in the House since a March 1973 special election, had no
trouble defeating
state Rep. Harry
Crawford (D).
Legislature:
Eleven
seats were up in the Senate and all seats were
up in the House. The
Senate remained
split
at
10D-10R
and in the House the balance went from 22R-18D to 24R-16D.
Arizona [+]
[Primary August
24].
Registered Voters: 3,146,418. Ballots Cast:
1,553,832
(49.38%).
S.B. 1070, signed
into law by Gov. Jan Brewer (R) in April and challenged by the U.S.
Justice
Department on July 6, roiled Arizona politics. (1, 2,
3, 4).
Governor:
Gov. Jan Brewer
(R), who ascended to office when Gov. Napolitano (D) became
Secretary of Homeland Security, was seen as likely to be defeated
before S.B. 1070. She defeated Attorney
General
Terry
Goddard
(D) by 54.6% to 42.2%, with the rest going to Barry Hess (L) and Larry Gist (G).
U.S. Senate:
Sen. John
McCain, seeking a fifth term, defeated Tucson
City
Councilman Rodney
Glassman (D) by 58.8% to 34.5% with David F. Nolan (L) at 4.6% and Jerry
Joslyn
(G) rounding out the field.
U.S.
House:
Balance goes from 5D-3R to 5R-3D; three new members
elected. The
3rd
CD (Phoenix area) was
open due to the retirement of Rep. Shadegg
(R). Businessman and attorney Ben
Quayle
(R) emerged
from a contentious primary and defeated businessman and attorney Jon
Holburd (D). Republicans achieved pickups in the
1st CD (a huge chunk of northern and eastern Arizona), where dentist Paul
Gosar
(R) defeated freshman Rep.
Ann Kirkpatrick (D),
and
the
5th
CD
(Phoenix
area)
where
former
Maricopa
County Treasurer David
Schweikert (R) defeated second-term Rep.
Harry
Mitchell (D). In the 8th (Southeast AZ), Rep.
Gabrielle Giffords (D)
narrowly fended off a challenge from construction
project
manager
Jesse Kelly
(R). In the 7th (Southwest AZ), Rep. Raul Grijalva (D)
received a
scare from Ruth McClung (R).
Legislature: All seats were up. Republicans
strengthened control in
both
chambers; the Senate went from
18R-11D-1v to 21R-9D and
the House from 35R-25D
to 40R-20D.
More:
Arizonans also voted on 10 ballot propositions.
Republicans
pick
up
two
U.S.
House
seats.
Arkansas [+]
[Primary May
18; Runoff June 8].
Registered Voters:
1,638,135. Ballots Cast:
780,139
(47.62%).
Governor: Gov. Mike
Beebe
(D) coasted to
re-election, defeating businessman Jim
Keet (R) by 64.4% to 33.6% and
Jim Lendall (G) at 1.9%.
U.S. Senate:
Sen. Blanche
Lincoln
(D) survived a tough
primary challenge but was defeated by Rep.
John Boozman (R) by 57.8% to 36.9% with votes also going
to Trevor Drown (I) and John
Gray
(G).
U.S. House:
Balance goes from 3D-1R
to
3R-1D; three new
members elected. There were
three
open seats. In the 1st CD, the NE Arkansas seat opened by
retirement of Rep.Marion Berry (D), Rick
Crawford
(R) defeated Chad
Causey
(D); in the
2nd CD, central Arkansas seat opened by the retirement of Rep. Vic
Snyder (D), Tim Griffin (R) defeated
Joyce Elliott (D);
and
in
the
3rd
CD,
the
NW
Arkansas
seat
held
by
Rep.
Boozman
(R),
Steve
Womack
(R) defeated David
Whitaker (D).
Legislature: All
House
seats and 17 of 35 Senate seats were up. Democrats
maintained control
of both
chambers
of
the General Assembly
but their margins were trimmed (House went from 72D-28R to 55D-45R and Senate from 27D-8R to 22D-13R).
Republicans
pick up U.S. Senate seat and two U.S. House seats.
[Primary June
8].
Registered Voters:
17,285,883. Ballots Cast:
1,302,324 (59.60% of registered; 43.74% of eligible).
Governor: Campaigning
to
succeed
term-limited
Gov.
Arnold
Schwarzenegger
(R),
AG,
former Oakland Mayor and former Gov. Jerry
Brown (D)
reclaimed the seat he held from 1975-83, defeating former e-Bay CEO Meg
Whitman (R), by a 53.4% to 41.5%
margin;
four
third-party
candidates garnered under 2% each. Whitman spent about $144 million of her
money ($178.5 million total). Democrats also swept the other
six state partisan offices, making California on of their few bright
spots.
U.S. Senate:
Sen. Barbara
Boxer
(D) was elected to
a
fourth
term,
fending off
a
strong
challenge
from former HP CEO Carly
Fiorina
(R) by 51.8% to 42.8% four third
party candidates garnered under 2% each.
U.S. House: Balance
stays
at
34D,
19R;
two
new
members
elected. The outcome in
the
11th
CD
(East
of
the
Bay
Area) remained uncertain for several weeks after Election Day;
Rep. Jerry McNerney (D)
ultimate won by about 2,400 votes (48.0% to 46.9%) over attorney David Harmer (R), while David Christiansen (AI) obtained 5.1%.
The 20th CD
(Central Valley) also took several weeks; Rep. Jim Costa (D)
fended off a strong challenge from Hanford
cherry
farmer Andy Vidak (R);
Vidak
had narrowly led on
Election Night. Two
House
seats were
open
due
to
retirements,
the 19th CD and the 33rd CD. In the
19th (52% to 46% for McCain in '08) state
Senator
Jeff
Denham
(R) easily kept the seat
in GOP hands over Dr. Loraine Goodwin (D); while in the
33rd (87% Obama in '08), Assemblywoman
Karen
Bass
(D) coasted to victory.
Democrats had targeted Rep. Dan Lungren (R) in the 3rd CD, but Dr. Ami
Bera
(D) fell short at 43.2% to 50.1% for Lungren. Republicans had hopes in
the 47th CD, but Van Tran (R) only managed 39.3% to 53.0% for Rep.
Loretta Sanchez (D) and 7.7% for an independent.
Legislature:
20 of
40 Senate
seats and all Assembly seats were up. Democrats
kept control
of both
chambers; the Senate went from 25D-14R-1v to 25D-14R-1 undecided and the House went
from 50D-27R-1o-2v to
52D-28R.
More:
California voters decided nine ballot
measures; (more). Proposition
19,
which
would
have legalized
marijuana,
attracted
national attention (yes
| no); voters rejected the measure by a 54.0%
to 46.0% margin. At least
Proposition 23, which would have suspended air pollution control laws
until the economy improved, was one of the most costly ballot measure
contests totalling at least $38.5 million spent
for and against; voters rejected the measure by
61.5% to 38.5%
Democrats pick up
the governorship.
Colorado
[Primary August
10].
Governor:
Gov. Bill Ritter (D) opted not to seek a second
term. Denver
Mayor John
Hickenlooper (D) defeated
former Rep. Tom
Tancredo
(C), by 51% to 37% while businessman Dan
Maes (R)
faded to about 11%; also running were Jaimes
Brown
(L) and unaffiliated candidates Jason R. Clark and Paul Noel Fiorino.
U.S. Senate:
In one of the closest Senate races in the country, appointed
Sen. Michael
Bennet
(D) surprised many observers by defeating Weld County district attorney Ken Buck
(R) by 48% to 47%; others running included Bob Kinsey (G), Maclyn Stringer (L) as well as Charley Miller (una.),
J.
Moromisato
(una.)
and
Jason
Napolitano
(Inr).
U.S. House:
Balance goes from 5D-2R
to
4R-3D; two new
members elected. In the 3rd CD (Western Slope), Rep. John Salazar (D) lost to
state Rep. Scott
Tipton
(R). In
the
4th
CD
(the
Eastern
third
of
the
state), freshman
Rep. Betsy
Markey (D), who defeated Marilyn Musgrave in 2008, lost to House
Minority Whip Cory Gardner (R). Also
interesting was the 7th CD (much of Adams Co. plus Denver environs)
where Ed Perlmutter (D) fended off a challenge from Ryan Frazier
(R).
Legislature: In
the
General
Assembly,
all
65
House
seats
and
19
of
35
Senate
seats were up. Democrats
lost their majority in the House, which went from 37D-27R-1I
to 33R-32D.
The
Senate
went
from 21D-14R
to
20D-15R.
Republicans
pick
up
two
U.S.
House
seats
and
one
legislative
chamber.
Connecticut
[Primary August 10].
Connecticut was a bright spot in a bleak
year for Democrats, as they picked up the
governorship for the first time in 20 years, held Dodd's U.S. Senate
seat and kept all five U.S. House seats.
Governor: Former Stamford
Mayor Dan
Malloy
(D) narrowly
defeated businessman Tom
Foley (R); Foley did not concede until November 8 due to concern
over irregularities in Bridgeport. Tom
Marsh
(IP)
was also on the
ballot.
U.S. Senate:
Attorney General Richard
Blumenthal
(D) defeated former World
Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon (R), Warren Mosler (IP),
and John Mertens
(CFL).
U.S. House:
Balance remains at 5D-0R,
although
the
NRCC
noted
that,
"As
recently
as
2006,
three
of
Connecticut’s
five
congressional
districts were held by Republicans." In the 5th CD
(Northwest part of the state) second-term Rep. Chris Murphy (D) staved off a
challenge from state Sen. Sam
Caligiuri (R), and in the 4th CD (Southwest corner of the state), freshman Rep.
Jim Himes (D) defeated state Sen.
Dan
Debicella
(R).
Legislature:
All
seats in
the
General
Assembly
were up. Democrats
maintained sizeable margins in both chamber, although Republicans made
gains in the House, which went from 114D-36R-1v to 100D-51R; the Senate went from
24D-12R to 23D-13R.
Democrats
pick
up
the
governorship.
Delaware [+]
[Primary September
14].
U.S. Senate:
Rep.
Mike Castle (R) was seen as certain to win this seat until he lost
to Tea Party-backed marketing and
media consultant Christine
O'Donnell (R) in the primary. O'Donnell's win opened the door
for New
Castle County
Executive Chris Coons (D), who won by a
56.6% to 40.0% margin, with Glenn
Miller
(IP) at 2.7% and Jim
Rash (L) at 0.7%.
U.S. House: In the
race
for
the at-large seat held by Castle since 1992, former Lt. Gov John Carney (D)
defeated Tea Party-backed real estate
developer Glen Urquhart (R) by 56.8% to 41.0%.
Legislature:
In
the
General Assembly, 10 of 21 Senate seats and
all 41 House seats were up. Democrats kept control of both
chambers; the Senate went from 15D-6R to 14D-7R and the House went
from 24D-17R to 26D-15R.
Democrats pick
up one U.S. House seat.
[Primary
August
24].
Registered Voters:
11,217,384. Ballots
Cast: 5,457,546.
2010 turned out to be a banner year
for Republicans in Florida despite a spending
scandal at the state Republican party and a divisive gubernatorial
primary.
Governor:
Health care
entrepreneur Rick Scott (R) defeated CFO Alex
Sink
(D) by 48.87% to 47.71% or about
62,000 votes out of 5,357,813 cast; five other candidates were on the
ballot. This was a particularly cutting loss for Democrats; Scott
had survived a divisive primary and was seen as vulnerable on ethics,
but he spent more than $70 million of his own money to carry the race.
U.S.
Senate: Former House Speaker Marco
Rubio
(R), a national star for
conservatives, won with 48.90% to 29.71% for Gov. Charlie Crist (I) and 20.19% for Rep. Kendrick
Meek (D);
rounding
out
the
field were Bernie
DeCastro (C), Alex
Snitker (L)
and a number of other Independents. This
race had a number of dramatic angles. First, there was Gov.
Crist's
decision to run as an Independent, and then in the latter part of
October former President Bill Clinton tried to persuade Meek to back
Crist.
U.S. House: Balance goes from 15R-10D to 19R-6D; Florida will be sending eight new
members to Congress. Republicans won every competitive seat,
defeating four incumbents.
2: Rep. Alan
Boyd (D) lost to funeral home
director Steve Southerland (R)
by 41.3% to 53.6% (McCain 54%-45%).
8: Rep. Alan
Grayson
(D) lost to former Sen. Majority
Leader Daniel Webster (R) by 38.2% to
56.1%
(Obama 53-47%).
22: Rep. Ron
Klein
(D) lost to veteran Alan
West
(R) by 45.7% to 54.3% (Obama 52%-48%).
24. Rep. Suzanne
Kosmas
(D) lost to state Rep. Sandy
Adams
(R) by 40.3% to 59.7% (McCain 51%-49%).
All
five
open
U.S.
House
seats remained in the same party:
5: Rep. Brown-Waite (R) retiring. Hernando County Sheriff Rich
Nugent
(R) defeated
consultant Jim Piccillo
(D).
12:
Rep. Putnam (R) for Ag.Comm.. former
state Rep. Dennis Ross (R) defeated Sup.
of
Elections Lori Edwards (D).
17: Rep. Meek (D) for Gov.. state
Sen.
Frederica Wilson (D)
defeated Roderick
Vereen
(I); this was one of just a handful of districts where Republicans
did not field a candidate (87%-12% for Obama).
21: Rep.
L. Diaz-Balart (R) retiring. Rep. M.Diaz-Balart
(R) moved
over from the 25th and faced no opponent.
25: formerly held by Rep.
M.Diaz-Balart (R). state Rep. David
Rivera
(R) defeated '08 nominee Joe
Garcia (D).
Legislature: All
120 House seats and 20 of 40 Senate seats were up; Republicans added to already
sizable
margins in both chambers, going from 26R-14D
28R-12D in the in
the
Senate and 76R-43D-1v
to
81R-39D in the
House.
More: Floridians
also voted
on six Amendments and a non-binding Referendum.
Republicans
pick
up
four
U.S.
House
seats.
Georgia [+]
[Primary July 20;
Runoff
August 10].
Governor: Former Rep. Nathan
Deal
(R), winner of
the August 10 runoff, defeated former
Gov. Roy Barnes (D) [elected in
1998; defeated in re-election bid] by 53.0% to 42.9% and 4.0% for John Monds (L).
U.S.
Senate: Sen. Johnny
Isakson
(R) easily won re-election, defeating Labor Comm. Mike
Thurmond
(D) by 58.3% to
39.0% and 2.7% for Chuck
Donovan (L).
U.S. House: Balance goes from 7R-6D to 8R-5D; two new members
elected. In
the 8th CD (central GA),
which
went 56%-43% for McCain, Rep. Jim
Marshall
(D) lost to state Rep. Austin
Scott (R) by 52.7% to 47.3%. In the 2nd CD (southwest GA), Rep. Sanford
Bishop (D) received a scare from state
Rep.
Mike
Keown
(R), 51.4% to
48.6%. In
the
7th CD (east of Atlanta), opened by Rep. John Linder (R)'s
retirement, Linder's chief of staff
Rob
Woodall (R) defeated Doug
Heckman (D) by 67.1% to 32.9% (the
district went 60%-39% for McCain in 2008).
Legislature:
Republicans kept control both chambers of the General
Assembly
by comfortable margins; the Senate went from 34R-22D to 35R-21D
and the House from 105R-74D-1v
to
108R-71D-1I/o.
Republicans
pick
up
one
U.S.
House
seat.