Political Crumbs

While Maggie Hassan’s decision this week to not seek another term as governor of New Hampshire may seem at first blush to put Democrats at a disadvantage in holding the seat, a review of Granite State gubernatorial elections suggests that might not be the case. Over the last 185+ years since the start of the…

With Jim Hagedorn announcing this spring that he would run against Tim Walz in the 1st CD again in 2016 and Stewart Mills filing paperwork with the FEC this week in preparation to take on Rick Nolan in the 8th CD, Minnesota could see at least two U.S. House rematch elections this cycle. Such rematches…

With former 2016 presidential front runner Scott Walker registering an eye-opening zero percent in the latest CNN survey of registered Republican voters, speculation will likely mount as to whether the Wisconsin governor is going to follow Rick Perry as the second GOPer to exit the race. Walker might have the funds to keep his campaign…

When John Kline retires at the end of the 114th Congress, he will exit the chamber tied for the 24th longest tenure out of the 134 U.S. House of Representatives to serve from Minnesota since statehood. Kline will join Republicans Mark Dunnell (1871-1883; 1889-1891), James McCleary (1893-1907), Sydney Anderson (1911-1925), and William Pittenger (1929-1933; 1935-1937;…

As Smart Politics previously reported, more than 170 losing major party U.S. Senate nominees in the direct election era have come back to claim their party’s nomination a second time around, with more than five dozen eventually winning a seat in the chamber. At least one losing U.S. Senate nominee from 49 states eventually clawed…

Governor Scott Walker’s entrance into the 2016 race for the GOP presidential nomination brings the tally of major party Wisconsin politicians who ran for the White House to 10 since statehood. The state’s first 100 years produced six favorite-son candidates: Democrats Henry Dodge (1852), James Doolittle (1868), and Edward Wall (1904) and Republicans Jeremiah Rusk…

Indiana Republican Governor Mike Pence announced his reelection bid on Thursday. Since the state constitution was amended to allow governors to serve two consecutive four-year terms in 1972, all five of Pence’s predecessors were victorious in their reelection campaigns: Republican…