Election 2007 Roundup

With apologies for posting this entry a week after elections, I wanted to do a quick roundup of the results of the 2007 elections. There were three gubernatorial races, along with legislative races in Maine, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia:

Statewide races
Kentucky: Ever since Ernie Fletcher got himself into trouble with the law by pardoning everyone associated with a merit system scandal, it was clear that the only way Republicans could hold this seat was if another GOP defeated Fletcher in the primary. Former Rep. Anne Northup (who lost to Rep. John Yarmuth in the KY-03 congressional district in 2006) ran against Fletcher but lost in the primary by 20 points. The Democratic ticket, headed by former Lt. Governor Steve Beshear (who had not held office for 20 years) and his running mate, State Sen. Daniel Mongiardo (who nearly defeated Sen. Jim Bunning in 2004) easily crushed Fletcher and running mate Robbie Rudolph by more than 17%.

Louisiana: This race was decided last month; Republican candidate Rep. Bobby Jindal was easily able to clear the 50% hurdle needed to avoid a runoff election against either state Sen. Walter Boasso. The displacement of the Democratic base of New Orleans has made it a much more difficult environment for Democrats in a state that is increasingly becoming Republican. Jindal became the first Republican governor in the state since Reconstruction. On the bright side, Jindal’s victory takes away the strongest potential candidate against Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), who faced a tough re-election in 2002. Additionally, her brother, Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu, won re-election to that post with 57% - a higher percentage of the vote than Jindal - signaling that her name (the Landrieus are a famous political family in the state) will help her as well.

Mississippi: With the Democrats running only a nominal candidate, it was no surprise that the incumbent, Republican Haley Barbour, easily won re-election.

Legislative races
In Maine and New Jersey, there weren’t too many surprises. Democrats maintained majorities in both state legislatures, although they did lose a couple of seats in the NJ State Assembly. However, Democrats did quite well in Mississippi and Virginia. In Mississippi, Democrats won enough seats to turn a 27-25 minority in the State Senate into a 28-24 majority (the state House already has a large Democratic majority). Virginia - where Republican majorities have made life exceedingly difficult for former Gov. Mark Warner and current Gov. Tim Kaine, also had the state Senate flip (going from a 23-17 Republican advantage to a 21-19 Democratic majority). Additionally, the Democrats were able to take 4 seats in the General Assembly, narrowing the GOP advantage to 54-44, with 2 independents.

Finally, I would be remiss to forget Pennsylvania. It’s old news, but Michael Nutter won the Philadelphia mayoral election easily, garnering a record 83% of the vote. At the state judicial level, two Democrats were elected in place of two Republican jurists, placing control of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The only branch of the state government in Republican hands is now the State Senate, where they have a 29-21 advantage. Hopefully that can be retaken next year!