Political Crumbs

With Attorney General Lori Swanson and state Representative Erin Murphy losing to Tim Walz in Minnesota’s 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary, Minnesota will continue its streak of never nominating a woman to the office of governor from a major party in state history. Meanwhile, with state Representative Peggy Flanagan and former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer…

Between 1986 and 2014, Kansas Democratic gubernatorial nominees were opposed in just three of eight cycles. One candidate ran in all three of these primaries: controversial founder of the Westboro Baptist Church Fred Phelps. Phelps came in last in each race, winning 6.7 percent in 1990’s primary won by Treasurer Joan Finney, 3.4 percent in…

Former Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen rolled to victory as expected in the three-candidate race for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination on Thursday – and tied a party record in doing so. Bredesen won 91.5 percent of the vote against perennial candidate Gary Davis (running in his sixth consecutive primary for the office) and attorney John…

Nevadans head to the polls in their state primary Tuesday and thousands will cast their gubernatorial vote for ‘None of these candidates’ – an option provided to the voters in primary and general elections for more than 40 years. The magic number to watch is whether the percentage of underwhelmed voters for either party reaches…

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf ran unopposed in his 2018 renomination bid to become just the third Democrat without a challenger since the state’s first gubernatorial primary in 1914. Wolf joins attorney John Hemphill (1930) and Governor Ed Rendell (2006) among the 27 nominees selected during the direct primary era. Meanwhile, Republican gubernatorial nominees have run…

Two records that are likely never to be broken in the annals of Nebraska electoral history are the nine appearances on a major party gubernatorial primary ballot – and seven nominations won – by Democrat Charles Bryan spanning the 1910s to the 1940s. The Lincoln mayor lost his first two nomination attempts in 1916 and…

Charlie Dent’s decision to resign prior to the end of this term means Pennsylvania will host a second special U.S. House election during the 115th Congress – on November 6th if not before. This will be the first time more than one special election to the chamber has been held in Pennsylvania during one cycle…

If Democratic attorney Conor Lamb upsets State Representative Rick Saccone in next Tuesday’s special election in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District, it will mark just the second time a seat has flipped across 29 specials held in the Keystone State since 1951. Over the last 67 years, Democrat John Murtha’s February 1974 0.2-point win against Harry…

Wisconsin State Senator Leah Vukmir’s campaign to win the 2018 GOP U.S. Senate nomination and challenge incumbent Tammy Baldwin seems to be gaining traction against businessman Kevin Nicholson (as businessman and 2012 candidate Eric Hovde waits in the wings to potentially complicate the race). If Vukmir is successful, she will become just the second woman…

Utah U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch announced on Tuesday that he would not stand for election to an 8th term in 2018. Hatch is one of 17 members of the chamber to serve into their seventh term and the fifth to retire, joining Arizona Democrat Carl Hayden (1968), Louisiana Democrat Russell Long (1986), Mississippi Democrat John…