Wisconsin
A Tale of (Two?) States: Demographic Support for Republican Gubernatorial Candidates in MN and WI Strikingly Similar
The 2006 gubernatorial races in Minnesota and Wisconsin had key similarities: 1-term incumbents defending their seats with job approval rankings hovering around 50%. Pundits viewed seats in both states to be very vulnerable. Despite these similarities, the candidacies of Republican…
Read MoreGubernatorial Approval Ratings Rise Noticeably After Elections
Approval ratings for all four Upper Midwest governors rose noticeably in polls conducted by SurveyUSA directly after Election Day (November 8-11). All three incumbent governors on the ballot in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota were victorious, and the Democrats retained…
Read MoreSmart Politics Scorecard, Part II: State Legislative Roundup
The Democratic party scored big wins across Upper Midwest state legislatures on Tuesday night. As projected here at Smart Politics, the Democrats picked up seats in all 8 chambers and took control of three of them: the Iowa House, Wisconsin…
Read MoreUpper Midwest State Legislative Projections
The last in a series of election projections, Smart Politics predicts which political party will win control of state legislatures across the Upper Midwest. Democrats are in an advantaged position in most states in each legislative chamber to pick up…
Read MoreWisconsin Poll Roundup and Smart Politics Projections
Only 1 of 9 races for federal office in the Badger state in 2006 is considered a true ‘toss-up’: the 8th Congressional district race. But the state does offer a high-profile gubernatorial matchup…plus all those other federal races are…
Read MoreWI-3: GOP Challenger Launches Unforgettable Attack Ad
Campaign attack ads seem to be replacing horserace polls as the lead stories in political news coverage, and Smart Politics is guilty of this behavior as well, at least for today. While the Bachmann-Wetterling (MN-6) race had the early…
Read MoreUpper Midwest US House Races Tighten in GOP Held Districts…But Is a Revolution Afoot?
A recent spate of polls tracking US House races in the Upper Midwest reflect what is perceived by most political analysts to be a nation-wide trend: GOP-held districts that were secure in 2004 now seem to be competitive or near…
Read MoreWho’s Looking On the Sunny Side of Life?
The Midwest…the heartland of America…where caustic coastal cynicism has not yet taken root and a hearty optimism about life in these United States still prevails. Syrupy, true, but that description about life in the Upper Midwest sounds like it might…
Read MoreUS House Redistricting: Iowa Gets Lowest Marks for Proportionality
In the coming year or so states will begin to outline plans for the redistricting process that will go into effect in 2012 after the 2010 Census results. One way to measure the ‘success’ of these processes is to…
Read MoreWI Referendum: Definition of Marriage
In 2003, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle vetoed a bill that sought to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The Republican-led legislature then initiated a constitutional amendment process (which passed 19-14 in the state Senate on…
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