Political Crumbs

At some point on November 3, 2020 an unknown Minnesotan will cast the state’s 50 millionth general election vote for president. Over the previous 40 cycles since 1860, there have been 47,409,575 votes for president cast in the Gopher State, which has consistently boasted one of the highest voter turnout rates in the country in…

Political observers get to follow the returns of two U.S. House special elections held today in North Carolina (NC-03 and NC-09). The last time two specials were held on the same day in the same state outside of a November midterm or presidential Election Day was on May 3, 2008 when Republican Steve Scalise and…

It is expected that term-limited Montana Governor Steve Bullock will announce his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination later this month. That will give Montana its first presidential candidate in nearly 70 years. The last Treasure State political figure to be considered for the White House was Democratic U.S. Senator James Murray in 1952. Murray…

A record 23 women were nominated by major parties to the U.S. Senate in 2018, although it may be a challenge to see that number equaled or increased in 2020. There were 13 incumbent women on the ballot last cycle compared to just seven that are up for reelection next year: Martha McSally (AZ), Joni…

The long-shot presidential candidacy of former West Virginia Democratic state Senator Richard Ojeda ended last week. Brief as it was – lasting just 76 days – Ojeda’s White House bid was not the shortest in the modern primary era. Since 1972, three other non-fringe major party presidential hopefuls had shorter stays on the campaign trail.…

The 116th Congress will convene 13 U.S. Senators who were most recently elected to the chamber with a plurality of the vote (seven Democrats and six Republicans) – dropping from 15 such lawmakers ending the 115th Congress. That marks the sixth consecutive congress with 10 or more senators who did not win the support of…

When Tony Evers unseated Scott Walker in Wisconsin’s gubernatorial election last week, it set up just the fifth time in state history in which a Democratic governor will be in office when new legislative district lines are drawn following the decennial U.S. Census. Prior to Evers, Republicans sat in the governor’s office each of the…

In last week’s midterm elections, Democrats continued to run up the score in U.S. House races across multiple Northeastern states. A sweep of Massachusetts’ nine congressional districts increased the Democratic winning streak to 119 in a row in the Bay State dating back to 1996. Democrats also swept through Connecticut for the sixth consecutive cycle,…

For just the third time in more than 650 general and special elections, voters in an Iowa U.S. House race will have six choices on the general election ballot. The state’s 3rd CD finds Republican David Young challenged by Democratic businesswoman Cynthia Axne plus Libertarian Bryan Holder, Green nominee Paul Knupp, independent Joe Grandanette, and…

Over the last 105 years, only one state has never elected a Republican U.S. Senator while a fellow GOPer served in the White House – Arkansas. The Natural State has voted for a Democratic nominee in all 17 opportunities to date, and will get its next chance to break that streak in 2020 when Republican…