Tired of the Presidential race? The battle for 33
Class I seats in the 100-member United States Senate, once commonly known as the "World's Greatest Deliberative Body", now known for stifling torpor with record-breaking numbers of
filibusters and a total logjam of
pending confirmations, is also taking place on the same day. With many key Senate races happening in states where the Presidential outcome will be lopsided, all eyes are on
split-ticket voters. 53 Democrats (2 of them independents) and 47 Republicans make up the current chamber. Who will control the second Senate
ivory gavel, the first of which was shattered in 1954?
[more inside]
posted by Hollywood Upstairs Medical College
on Oct 13, 2012 -
71 comments
It's Election Day in America, and as is so often the case in this
fickle land, the results of the 2010 midterm elections are up in the air. Although President Obama's party is expected to suffer significant losses,
record numbers of districts remain competitive, and even minute errors in polling could mean the difference between
a historic Republican landslide and
an unexpectedly robust Democratic defense. At stake are control of not just the Senate and House, but myriad state and local offices, many of which will play key roles in the dynamics of the 2012 presidential race -- and, more subtly but no less crucially, the once-in-a-decade
congressional redistricting process. Much uncertainty surrounds the behavior of the electorate -- how many will turn out, and how informed will they be? To help move those statistics in the right direction, look inside for voter guides, national and state fact checkers, and an assortment of other resources to keep tabs on as the results roll in.
[more inside]
posted by Rhaomi
on Nov 2, 2010 -
858 comments
Tea Party candidate and
Sarah Palin endorsee Christine O'Donnell - a former
chastity lobbyist - has
defeated the longest-serving Congressman in Delaware's history by six percentage points to claim the Republican nomination for Vice President Biden's former Senate seat - despite Karl Rove's televised statements to Sean Hannity that she says
"nutty things":
It does conservatives little good to support candidates who, at the end of the day, while they may be conservative in their public statements, do not evince the characteristics of rectitude and truthfulness and sincerity and character that the voters are looking for. [more inside]
posted by Joe Beese
on Sep 15, 2010 -
448 comments
Vote for James H. "Jim"? Voters in certain Virginia precincts will see electronic ballots featuring only part of some candidates' names. For some reason this is said to be "unfixable", even though this has been discovered two weeks ahead of election time. This problem only affects voting machines made by... not the one you'd expect, but
Austin, TX-based Hart InterCivic, whose motto is "Always Accessible". Senatorial Candidate James H. "Jim" Webb (D) is, one may assume, not amused.
posted by clevershark
on Oct 24, 2006 -
56 comments
As in the 2004 elections, several useful sites have sprung up to keep track of the 2006 midterms for House, Senate and state gubernatorial races. Some have a political point of view, others don't, but they don't differ significantly on the outcome at this point. One of the veterans in this game is
ElectionProjection.com, which was
pretty close to actual results in '04. (A creation of
"the Blogging Caesar"). From the right, there's
MyElectionAnalysis.com, while
ElectionPredictions seems to come from a neutral corner. All of these track statewide polls as they are published; they may differ in how they weight results. For a more subjective approach, see
Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball or the
Cook Political Report. Overall, the consensus seems to be that the GOP will hold both houses, but with slimmer margins, and lose on the gubernatorial front.
posted by beagle
on Jul 10, 2006 -
30 comments
"The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof...." The Seventeeth Amendement provides for the direct election of U.S. Senators. Originally,
Article I Section 3 of the United States Constition provided that each state's senators be chosen by that state's legislature.
The
Populist Party platform from 1892 on, called for direct senatorial election; and the
Progressive movment made it, along with Prohibition (18th Amendment) and Women's Suffrage (19th), a
cornerstone of reform. The 17th was ratified
8 April 1913, when the required 36th of 48 states, Connecticut, approved it. Utah, however, had rejected it 41 days earlier, on
26 February 1913. Although Utah never subsequently ratified it, the 17th Amendment, as part of the Federal Constitution, applies in Utah as in all U.S. States.
But in the
name of
re-invigorating States' Rights,
some on the
Right -- and
some less easy to
label -- have called for the repeal of the 17th Amendement. In 2003 Montana's Senate,
after passing it out of committee, indefinitely postponed by floor vote
a bill calling on Congress to repeal the 17th. Now, the President of
Utah's 29-member State Senate [pdf], with 19 co-sponsers, thinks he's figured out
a way around the Constitution's 17th Amendment. Debate on the
S.B. 156 began yesterday.
posted by orthogonality
on Jan 25, 2006 -
52 comments
If Al Gore becomes the president, Mickey Kaus has a
wickedly devious idea on how the Dems can stick it to the senate Repubs. It hinges on Joe Leiberman refusing the vice-presidency.
posted by nikzhowz
on Nov 9, 2000 -
10 comments
"No Senate Race in New York in 2000." I was at the
my AOL page and from there, two-clicked my way to their
election 2000 link to find my local races; where I was greeted with the aforementioned quote, in red. At first I thought it was a reference to the New York State Senate. But the top of the page clearly says, "U.S. Senate Race."
Am I the only person being duped by the AOL election information services?
posted by tamim
on Oct 17, 2000 -
2 comments
In the NY debate between Clinton and Lazio a reporter asked them about House bill 602p. An evil bill this one, purporedtly letting the US Postal Service tax email!
posted by capt.crackpipe
on Oct 8, 2000 -
10 comments
