Posted on 11/03/2010 5:00:43 AM PDT by Colofornian
SNIP
Continuing the drumbeat of early defeats for Democrats, Suzanne Kosmas...lost to Sandy Adams...Adams made Kosmas' vote in favor of health care law a centerpiece of her campaign. Another incumbent to fall was Carol Shea-Porter of New Hampshire, who said on the campaign trail that Democrats saved the country with their stimulus package. Republican Frank Guinta...criticized Shea-Porter for "blindly" following Democratic leaders and was a vocal critic of the health care reform. Shea-Porter's defeat puts Republicans back on the map in New England, where they have no members in the current Congress.
...Rep. Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania (above) lost to Louis Barletta...known for his tough stance on illegal immigrants.
Democratic strategists had worried about how well they would fare in the Midwest...the outcome...confirmed their anxiety. In Ohio, Democrats ceded all...they...gained in 2006 and 2008. Five seats fell to Republicans. Freshman Steve Driehaus lost his...seat to Steve Chabot. Driehaus was on the defensive because of his health care vote. He initially refused to support the health care bill because of his concern that it would allow federal funding of abortion. He supported the bill after the abortion language was modified.
This turned out to be a recipe for trouble; the eight Democrats who flipped their stance became endangered incumbents.
SNIP
Arizona's tough new immigration law is being tested not just in court but at the ballot box. The first casualty was Ann Kirkpatrick..., who lost to Paul Gossar. Gossar, who reached out to the Tea Party movement for support and was endorsed by Sarah Palin, had defeated an establishment Republican during the primary. He supports Arizona's stringent law. Arizonans also voted out Democrat Harry Mitchell in the 5th District, handing a victory to Dave Schweikert. Schweikert made the election a referendum on...Nancy Pelosi...and said he wants to..."return fiscal sanity."
(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...
From the article: In Ohio, Democrats ceded all...they...gained in 2006 and 2008...
From the article: Arizonans also voted out Democrat Harry Mitchell in the 5th District, handing a victory to Dave Schweikert. Schweikert made the election a referendum on...Nancy Pelosi...and said he wants to..."return fiscal sanity."
Yup. 'Tis so nice when you can read an NPR article citing a Republican who made his race a referendum on the fiscal insanity of Nancy Pelosi!!!
[Not to mention NPR noting the tough illegal immigration stances of GOP victors in Arizona and Pennsylvania!...coupled with how Obama healthcare did in all of its Ohio gains over the past two elections!]
Do we know what the final numbers are?
My prediction was 60 House and 7 Senate
It looks like your predictions were very close on the House and Senate. The GOP will almost certainly win the Alaska race (it's just a question of whether it's "Republican" Miller or "Write-In Candidate" Murkowski), so it will all come down to the Washington and Colorado Senate races to see if they get to 7.
Will there be a runoff in Alaska?
The GOP pick ups in state legislatures is what might be the big story this year.
I haven’t heard anything about a possible need for a runoff, so maybe Alaska law doesn’t require it. It varies from one state to another, and I believe that in most states the winning candidate is the one with the most votes, not necessarily requiring a candidate to have a majority of the votes. This was how Jesse Ventura was elected governor of Minnesota a while back even though he only got something like 36% of the popular vote.
I agree. One of the untold stories of the 1994 GOP success was that a lot of their victories were tied to the redistricting of House seats after the 1990 Census.
LOL!!!!
Okay, I read somewhere that if they didn’t get 40% there would be one.
Or maybe only if Miller won. /s
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