Most astonishing election result of the last 50 years

[soniquemd21921]

For me, it was William Weld being re-elected governor of Massachusetts in 1994 with 71 percent of the vote. I know that Weld was very popular, but considering how Democratic Massachusetts is, that was astonishing.

[TJ in Oregon]

The election of Joseph Cao has to be up there too.

[Miles]

MN-08 in 2010.

[morgieb]

Ventura.

[Antonio the Sixth]

My experience is very limited, but NV-Sen in 2010 deserves a mention.

[Brittain33]

Astonishing at the time, or astonishing in retrospect, too? The fact that Dems won open seats in MS-1 and AL-2 in the late 2000s would have been considered preposterous before and seems preposterous again. But at the time, it was surprising, but not completely ridiculous.

[memphis]

Astonishing at the time, or astonishing in retrospect, too? The fact that Dems won open seats in MS-1 and AL-2 in the late 2000s would have been considered preposterous before and seems preposterous again. But at the time, it was surprising, but not completely ridiculous.

It's really a shame the GOP mayor of Southaven didn't win that seat in MS-1 because of all the trouble he's gotten himself into lately. It would be that much more hilarious for it to be a national story instead of just a local one. Long story short, after campaigning like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVe9w7stVns
he got caught using the city credit card spending many thousands of dollars going to gay sex shops all over the US and Canada and taking out his 20 something year old hairdresser boyfriend to expensive restaurants. Scandal has been going on for many months now, but he's still the mayor of Southaven as he refuses to resign and while the justice system works slowly, he can't be removed until he's formally convicted of embezzlement and making false statements.

[DC Al Fine]

Joseph Cao or his Chicago equivalent in the 1980's.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Astonishing at the time, or astonishing in retrospect, too? The fact that Dems won open seats in MS-1 and AL-2 in the late 2000s would have been considered preposterous before and seems preposterous again. But at the time, it was surprising, but not completely ridiculous.

It's really a shame the GOP mayor of Southaven didn't win that seat in MS-1 because of all the trouble he's gotten himself into lately. It would be that much more hilarious for it to be a national story instead of just a local one. Long story short, after campaigning like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVe9w7stVns
he got caught using the city credit card spending many thousands of dollars going to gay sex shops all over the US and Canada and taking out his 20 something year old hairdresser boyfriend to expensive restaurants. Scandal has been going on for many months now, but he's still the mayor of Southaven as he refuses to resign and while the justice system works slowly, he can't be removed until he's formally convicted of embezzlement and making false statements.

I need to print up some "Don't blame me, I supported Glenn McCullough" bumper stickers.  Of course Davis portrayed him as an eeeevil moderate RINO.

[freepcrusher]

Since I've been following politics; I'd say Heidi Heitkamp's win was considered a shocker since Romney was carrying the state by nearly twenty points.

[old timey villain]

I remember back in 2002 in Georgia, Roy Barnes getting soundly defeated surprised a lot of people. Barnes had a huge war chest and was leading in most of the polls, and of course at that time Georgia hadn't elected a Republican governor since reconstruction so many just assumed Barnes would win because of the (D) next to his name. I guess people underestimated how upset a lot of people were about the Georgia flag issue. Purdue really took advantage of that anger.

Of course now it surprises no one.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

The 2004 Illinois Senate election fits this, but it's more a comedy of errors than "astonishing." The incumbent Republican senator out of the blue chooses to retire after a single term. Out of a large and messy field, a young-ish (by politician standards) black guy whose middle name is Hussein (remember, the Iraq War's just started at this point) beats a swathe of more powerful candidates after a massive late surge.

Then, his Republican opponent drops out due to a hilariously messy divorce/affair. To replace him on the ballot, the state GOP pulls out a wingnut who had never even lived in Illinois and supports reparations while proclaiming that Christ would not vote for his opponent. He's defeated by the largest margin in Illinois history.

[old timey villain]

The 2004 Illinois Senate election fits this, but it's more a comedy of errors than "astonishing." The incumbent Republican senator out of the blue chooses to retire after a single term. Out of a large and messy field, a young-ish (by politician standards) black guy whose middle name is Hussein (remember, the Iraq War's just started at this point) beats a swathe of more powerful candidates after a massive late surge.

Then, his Republican opponent drops out due to a hilariously messy divorce/affair. To replace him on the ballot, the state GOP pulls out a wingnut who had never even lived in Illinois and supports reparations while proclaiming that Christ would not vote for his opponent. He's defeated by the largest margin in Illinois history.

sometimes I remember that our president's name in Hussein in a time of intense Islamaphobia. How the hell did he break into politics at all with a name like that??

...maybe people aren't as stupid and petty as I think sometimes

[Beet]

Probably some obscure Congressional race that some of the longtime psephologist posters here know about.

[ilikeverin]

Er,

Ventura.

... seriously, people, you don't need to get very obscure.

[nolesfan2011]

I would go with Ventura too simply because he is just so polarizing and out there and he was a (generally) successful governor of a pretty sane state (Minnesota).

really shocking he got into office, even at the time, with a wrestling background and the rest

[hopper]

Joseph Cao or his Chicago equivalent in the 1980's.

1990's I think you meant. Dan Rostenkowski getting beat in 1994 by Mike Flanagan I have heard has been compared to Cao beating Jefferson in 2008. Jefferson and Rostenkowski were both in heavily dem disricts in their respective cities(Chicago and New Orleans) but were both beaten because of corruption issues. Rostenkowski's district was sort of made up on the outer part or downtown part of Chicago I think still at the time. It wasn't like Jefferson's district which I think pretty much covered New Orleans entirely and maybe outer parts or towns outside of New Orleans.

[pbrower2a]

Corruption should make re-election of an incumbent impossible. I really am not surprised about Dan Rostenkowski or William "Cold Cash" Jefferson being defeated.

...Barack Obama winning Indiana in 2008 is amazing as it gets.

[soniquemd21921]

1964 must have seemed as astonishing as it got at that time: a Republican carrying Mississippi, South Carolina and Alabama in a landslide while losing Maine, Vermont and upstate New York in a landslide.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Murphy beating West.

[Talleyrand]

Outside of the U.S., the Alberta Election last year was an extreme stunner. The Wildrose Party had been leading the Progressive Conservative Dynasty in the polls consistently throughout the campaign, and were confident of a win, with some even expecting a blowout (which they confided to the press). Yet they lost the popular vote by 10 points and won a measly 17 seats, to the PC's 61. I can't think of another instance in the elections I've followed closely which was so stunning.

I was also pretty stunned by Childers in 2008, and Heitkamp in 2012. Cao goes without saying, although he was running against someone as corrupt as William Jefferson.

[DC Al Fine]

Outside of the U.S., the Alberta Election last year was an extreme stunner. The Wildrose Party had been leading the Progressive Conservative Dynasty in the polls consistently throughout the campaign, and were confident of a win, with some even expecting a blowout (which they confided to the press). Yet they lost the popular vote by 10 points and won a measly 17 seats, to the PC's 61. I can't think of another instance in the elections I've followed closely which was so stunning.

I was also pretty stunned by Childers in 2008, and Heitkamp in 2012. Cao goes without saying, although he was running against someone as corrupt as William Jefferson.

If we're going with international elections, Social Credit going from 0 seats to a majority in Alberta - 1935 is pretty awesome.

[JoeyJoeJoe]

I don't recall which year it was, but the Australian Labor Party was winning seats in some of the most conservative parts of Queensland, including Dawson.  Here, politicians like Margaret Chase Smith, Ted Stevens, William Bray, and John Happy Camp losing were astonishing, even if they weren't all upsets.

[morgieb]

I don't recall which year it was, but the Australian Labor Party was winning seats in some of the most conservative parts of Queensland, including Dawson.  Here, politicians like Margaret Chase Smith, Ted Stevens, William Bray, and John Happy Camp losing were astonishing, even if they weren't all upsets.

Only reason that happened was because Rudd was the Labor leader.

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

I don't recall which year it was, but the Australian Labor Party was winning seats in some of the most conservative parts of Queensland, including Dawson.  Here, politicians like Margaret Chase Smith, Ted Stevens, William Bray, and John Happy Camp losing were astonishing, even if they weren't all upsets.

Only reason that happened was because Rudd was the Labor leader.

Speaking of Queensland, I think the result of their last state election (last March) was astonishing. I expected the LNP to win in a landslide, but not THAT big! 78/89 seats is impressive!