Archive for 2006
Gubernatorial Approval Ratings Rise Noticeably After Elections
Approval ratings for all four Upper Midwest governors rose noticeably in polls conducted by SurveyUSA directly after Election Day (November 8-11). All three incumbent governors on the ballot in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota were victorious, and the Democrats retained…
Read MoreMinnesota State Senate Election Analysis: DFL Thoroughly Dominates Republicans
The DFL expanded its lead in the Minnesota State Senate from 38-29 to 44-23, after picking up eight seats and giving back two in this month’s election. The DFL has now not only nearly doubled the number of GOP seats…
Read MoreMany Familiar Faces To Depart Capitol Hill After ’06 Election
The anti-GOP wave that struck D.C. two weeks ago resulted in 22 Republican U.S. House incumbents being given their 2-month notice. This turnover, while quite high by historical standards, is perhaps not as remarkable as the fact that most of…
Read MoreGOP Struggling to Find Opportunities for Pickups in U.S. House Races
Yesterday’s blog entry detailed how the Democratic Party has become increasingly competitive on a number of dimensions in challenging GOP-held U.S. House districts from 2002 to 2006. Today Smart Politics examines how Republicans have fared along these same measures—is the…
Read MoreSeeds for Democratic Gains In U.S. House Actually Planted in 2004
Even though Democrats lost seats in the U.S. House in 2004, there are several indicators in that election that suggest their Party was making inroads to be more competitive with Republicans—inroads that paid off in a big way in 2006….
Read MoreReader Request: Should Mike Hatch Have Better Utilized Keith Ellison in His Campaign?
The latest suggested topic from the Smart Politics Mailbox poses the following query in the wake of the Minnesota Gubernatorial race: should Mike Hatch have distanced himself like he did from fellow DFL 5th Congressional District victor Keith Ellison? Did…
Read MoreSupport for Third Parties Declining in U.S. House Races
A Smart Politics analysis of 2006 election results finds support for third parties continuing to drop—for the second straight election cycle since 2002. In 2006, 2.25 percent of votes for U.S. House candidates went to third parties, compared to 2.37…
Read MoreU.S. House: GOP Losses Could Have Been Far Worse
The headline in the battle for the U.S. House on Wednesday morning was how the Democrats not only took control from Republicans, but also gained an impressive 29 seats (up to a half-dozen races across the country are still classified…
Read MoreSmart Politics Scorecard, Part II: State Legislative Roundup
The Democratic party scored big wins across Upper Midwest state legislatures on Tuesday night. As projected here at Smart Politics, the Democrats picked up seats in all 8 chambers and took control of three of them: the Iowa House, Wisconsin…
Read MoreThe Day After: Smart Politics Scorecard, Part I
In the coming days Smart Politics will have extended coverage of the 2006 state and federal election results. In this morning’s summary entry, we can report the following results on Smart Politics’ scorecard for its projections in federal and gubernatorial…
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