Archive for December 2008
Minnesota’s Currently Drawn Congressional Maps 3rd Least Competitive in State History
Despite Smart Politics’ recent observation that Minnesota’s U.S. House elections are far more competitive than the national average, new research by Smart Politics finds the Gopher State’s current district boundaries to have produced the 3rd lowest number of competitive races…
Read MoreMinnesota ’08 U.S. House Contests More Competitive Than National Average by Double-Digits
As Minnesota gears up for congressional and legislative redistricting in the next few years, as well as the possible loss of a U.S. House seat, the Gopher State can take some pride in the fact that its U.S. House contests…
Read MoreHutchinson (’06) Performance Strong Predictor of Barkley Countywide Support in Minnesota Senate Race
As documented by Smart Politics last week, Independence Party candidate Dean Barkley took a very different path to reach 15 percent in the 2008 Minnesota U.S. Senate race than did 2002 Independence Party gubernatorial nominee, Tim Penny (who reached 16…
Read MoreCrime and the Minnesota Economy Revisited: Brace for Property Crime Surge
At about the same time Smart Politics posited the question as to what effect, if any, the rising unemployment rate and economic downturn would have on the state’s violent crime rate, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak’s office issued a press release…
Read MoreGetting to 15 Percent: Two Different Paths for Dean Barkley (’08) and Tim Penny (’02)
Independence Party nominee Dean Barkley’s U.S. Senate candidacy was of great interest to the media and political junkies leading up to the 2008 election. Could Barkley launch a Ventura-esque come-from-behind victory? Would his presence on the ballot hurt Al Franken…
Read MoreWill Violent Crime in Minnesota Increase Along With the Jobless Rate?
The news released on Thursday by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development that Minnesota’s unemployment rate had reached 6.4 percent, prompted Smart Politics to examine how the current jobless trend, and specifically the large rate of job loss,…
Read MoreMinnesota Unemployment Rate Reaches Highest Level in Nearly A Quarter Century
The news gets bleaker and bleaker for workers in the Gopher State. The November 2008 seasonally adjusted jobless numbers have been released by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development: unemployment rose to 6.4 percent – up from 5.9…
Read More‘The McCain 14’: House DFLers in Republican-Leaning Districts
On Wednesday, Smart Politics highlighted GOP legislators who serve house districts won by Barack Obama – legislators who are more vulnerable to district political pressures that might lead them to consider defecting from their Republican caucus in the event of…
Read MoreWho Will Be the ‘Override Three?’
The budget crisis outlined at the Capitol earlier this month is of such historic proportions that it will likely only serve to further strain the already tense relationship between Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty and the DFL-controlled legislature. In order to…
Read MoreMinnesota Leads Nation in Voter Turnout for Seventh Straight Election Cycle
Minnesota voters, buoyed perhaps both by a strong sense of civic duty, a high interest in politics, and a little thing called same-day registration, have once again led the country in voter turnout in the 2008 election. The Gopher State…
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