Minnesota
MN Senate Election Analysis, Part 2: Norm Coleman’s Metro Slide
On Monday, Smart Politics examined the margin of victory and loss in each county between the DFL candidates in the 2006 gubernatorial and 2008 U.S. Senate races, and found Al Franken most severely underperformed in the Northern counties of the…
Read MoreMN Senate Election Analysis, Part 1: Franken Underperforms in Northern Minnesota
On the surface, there are several similarities between the 2008 U.S. Senate race and the 2006 gubernatorial race in Minnesota. · Both races featured 1-term Republican incumbents facing reelection in Democratic wave election years and, pending a change of fate…
Read MoreEven At 42 Percent, Coleman’s Performance Historically Strong
Should Republican Norm Coleman prevail in the U.S. Senate recount against DFLer Al Franken over the coming weeks, his reelection will be noteworthy in several respects. First, at 42.0 percent, Coleman will have been elected by the lowest percentage in…
Read MoreWill Pawlenty Run For A Third Term?
After flirting with national office in 2008 – as a purported finalist on John McCain’s short list of Vice-Presidential nominees – Tim Pawlenty has the luxury of governing a state in which gubernatorial elections are conducted in presidential off-year…
Read MoreHow Will the National Media Cover the Franken vs. Coleman Recount?
As the headline of Barack Obama’s historic victory begins to fade and political reporters and analysts need to turn their attention elsewhere, it is likely the recount in Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race will satisfy their cravings and subsequently garner even…
Read MoreGreen Party Sets Personal Best in Minnesota’s HD 61B Contest
In Minnesota’s House District 61B election on Tuesday, Green Party candidate Farheen Hakeem received 30.3 percent of the vote – the highest mark ever reached by the Green Party in a House contest. The Green Party has run 29…
Read MoreThird Party Impact on the 2008 Minnesota Legislative Vote
Third party candidates in the Gopher State made a slight comeback in 2008, and had some impact on Minnesota legislative races on Tuesday. Two races were decidedly impacted by third party candidacies. In the open DFL House District 51A, Republican…
Read MoreHouse DFLers Head Into 2010 With Favorable Electoral Map
Despite failing to net five seats and reach a 90-seat supermajority in the House of Representatives, the DFL is actually now in a much stronger position heading into 2010 than they were heading into Tuesday’s election. Perhaps more important than…
Read MoreIndependence Party Sets New Records in Election 2008
Although the number of candidates the Independence Party of Minnesota has been able to field in state legislative elections has fallen sharply during the past few election cycles, the Party enjoyed some personal bests in the 2008 elections. At the…
Read MoreElection Night Observations
9:20 p.m. There have not been any shockers on Election Night so far, but there have been a few surprises on the presidential race: 1. Ohio being called so quickly for Barack Obama (about 90 minutes after polls closed) and…
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