State weirdness
Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 9:09 am
Yeah, yeah ...
These kinds of threads should go into the Spin Zone and they all may very well be moved there ('sup Bushice?), but since this is the talk of the day ...
In Oklahoma, we had no federal offices up for grabs, other than U.S. House. And surprise, surprise, all the incumbents won (3 GOP, 1 Dem) easily, with the exception of a vacated seat, held by a Republican, which, you guessed it -- went to another Republican. Simply shocking, I know, given how progressive Oklahoma is.
That being said, something else happened here, imo, in regard to the national "discontent" or whatever you want to call it, with the Republican Party.
Every statewide office here went to the Democrats.
The incumbent Governor killed the GOP Rep., Ernest Istook, who resigned his congressional seat to run for Gov. A Dem retiring state legislator -- who barely won her primary -- in somewhat of an upset, beat the standing GOP state Speaker of the House, for the Lt. Gov. post. (a big deal, as I'll explain shortly).
In addition, the Dems won: State treasurer, state auditor, state attorney general (RACK Kansas, btw, for ousting that clown ... errr Kline ... ) state education superintendent and state labor commissioner.
Granted, some of the voting comes from "Little Dixie," the SE region of Oklahoma that votes Democratic no matter what (Civil War days and all), but sheesh. All but two of the posts were open.
And the Lt. Gov. post was particularly important (and the most expensive campaign in state history), because the Lt. Gov. is also Pro Tem of the Senate, which ended up being tied here, 24-24. Which basically means, even though the Senate will be run a little different, the committee chairs will still be Dems, sort of like if the U.S. Senate were 50-50.
My take: Oklahomans may have voted their "discontent," or whatever you want to call it -- with the national picture, on the state level. Should give the polysci nerds at OU, OSU and TU something to chew on for years.
Anybody see anything else unusual in your state?
These kinds of threads should go into the Spin Zone and they all may very well be moved there ('sup Bushice?), but since this is the talk of the day ...
In Oklahoma, we had no federal offices up for grabs, other than U.S. House. And surprise, surprise, all the incumbents won (3 GOP, 1 Dem) easily, with the exception of a vacated seat, held by a Republican, which, you guessed it -- went to another Republican. Simply shocking, I know, given how progressive Oklahoma is.
That being said, something else happened here, imo, in regard to the national "discontent" or whatever you want to call it, with the Republican Party.
Every statewide office here went to the Democrats.
The incumbent Governor killed the GOP Rep., Ernest Istook, who resigned his congressional seat to run for Gov. A Dem retiring state legislator -- who barely won her primary -- in somewhat of an upset, beat the standing GOP state Speaker of the House, for the Lt. Gov. post. (a big deal, as I'll explain shortly).
In addition, the Dems won: State treasurer, state auditor, state attorney general (RACK Kansas, btw, for ousting that clown ... errr Kline ... ) state education superintendent and state labor commissioner.
Granted, some of the voting comes from "Little Dixie," the SE region of Oklahoma that votes Democratic no matter what (Civil War days and all), but sheesh. All but two of the posts were open.
And the Lt. Gov. post was particularly important (and the most expensive campaign in state history), because the Lt. Gov. is also Pro Tem of the Senate, which ended up being tied here, 24-24. Which basically means, even though the Senate will be run a little different, the committee chairs will still be Dems, sort of like if the U.S. Senate were 50-50.
My take: Oklahomans may have voted their "discontent," or whatever you want to call it -- with the national picture, on the state level. Should give the polysci nerds at OU, OSU and TU something to chew on for years.
Anybody see anything else unusual in your state?