State Legislative Elections 2004

[jimrtex]

Which state house/senates d'yi all think with flip this year?

The National Conference of State Legislatures lists the following top 10 battleground states:

http://www.ncsl.org

Colorado Senate. Democrats need just one seat to take power of the chamber from the Republican Party.

Georgia House of Representatives. A new redistricting plan gives Republicans the best chance they've had in decades to make gains.

Indiana House of Representatives. Democrats hold a one seat advantage in a chamber that has gone back and forth in recent years.

Maine Senate. Only one seat separates the parties in this chamber in a state which is expected to be a presidential battleground.

Montana House of Representatives. A new redistricting plan gives Democrats their best hope in years to seize control of the House.

North Carolina House of Representatives. Following the 2002 election, a party switch left the chamber tied and legislative power shared by both parties.

Oklahoma House of Representatives. Republicans, who have had steady gains in recent elections, only need three seats to take control of this chamber.

Oregon Senate. Tied 15 to 15, both parties are determined to seize control.

Vermont House of Representatives. With more third party members than any other state, a coalition leadership might not be out of the question.

Washington Senate and House of Representatives. This has been the most competitive legislature in the past decade. Both chambers are toss-ups.

[jimrtex]

An update:

Which state house/senates d'yi all think with flip this year?

The National Conference of State Legislatures lists the following top 10 battleground states:

http://www.ncsl.org

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Democrats not only picked up the 1 Senate seat, they picked up 5 House seat to take control of both chambers by one vote in each.

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Republicans pick up 19 House seats and 3 Senate seats with one still counting.  I suspect that their 94R:86D control of the House is a first time since Reconstruction sort of result.

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The Republicans picked up 3 seats to take control.

Iowa Not mentioned in the NCSL's list of battleground states, but a 4 seat pickup in the Senate, makes that body a 25:25 split.

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The Democrats maintained their one seat majority.  In the House, the Republicans picked up 6 seats, to make it 76D:73R:2O.

Minnesota Another state not mentioned in the NCSL list.  Democrats pick up 14 seats in the House to make it 68R:66DFL

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Democrats pick up 2 seats in the House, with 1 race undecided.  If they win that seat it will be a 50D:50R split.  But the Democrats also picked up 6 Senate seats to take control there 27D:23R.

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Democrats pick up 5 seats to retake control 63D:57R.

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Republicans pick up 3 times 3 seats, to assume a 57R:44D majority.

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Democrats pick up 3 seats to make it 18D:12R.

Tennessee Republicans pick up 2 seats to take a 17R:16D majority in the Senate.

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There are still 7 3rd party members, but the Democrats picked up 14 seats to take a clear 83D:60R:7O majority.

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Democrats pick up 1, with a chance for another to take control of the Senate, 25D:23R:1 undecided.  They extend their House majority by 3 to 55D:43R.

Incidentally, Washington voters voted for a semi-Louisiana plan for partisan elections.  In the primary, candidates from all parties are placed on the same ballot.  The two top vote-getters regardless of party will contest the general election.  This differs from Louisiana elections where a candidate with a majority is elected without a run-off. 

Overall, Dems take control of the lower house in 3 states: Colorado, North Carolina, and Vermont, while the GOP takes control in 3 states: Georgia, Indiana, and Oklahoma.  The Iowa House goes from GOP-control to tied.

In the upper houses, Democrats take control in Colorado, Iowa, Montana, and Washington, while the Republicans take control in Tennessee.

[jimrtex]

At this point, there are three races for the Maine House of Representatives where recounts have yet to officially determine the winner (well, technically none of the results are official until the Governor certifies them as such, but you know what I mean).

In many states, the legislature is the judge of the elections of its members.  This is also true of Congress.  Do you know if this is the case in Maine?

There have been a few recounts in Texas, and there is still a possiblity that the losing candidate will ask the Legislature  to make a decision.

There is also a Texas Senate race where the winning candidate is being challenged by a losing candidate, who is not so incidentally his former mistress.  She claims that he doesn't live in the district (which is a requirement in Texas), and he owns a house elsewhere that he has filed for a homestead exemption (which is only granted for owner-occupied houses).  He claims that while it is true that while he owns a house elsewhere, that he and his wife spend most of their time at his mother's house in the district.

[jimrtex]

There is also a Texas Senate race where the winning candidate is being challenged by a losing candidate, who is not so incidentally his former mistress.  She claims that he doesn't live in the district (which is a requirement in Texas), and he owns a house elsewhere that he has filed for a homestead exemption (which is only granted for owner-occupied houses).  He claims that while it is true that while he owns a house elsewhere, that he and his wife spend most of their time at his mother's house in the district.

Is this winning State Senate candidate a Republican or a Democrat?

Democrat.   The primary election was fairly close.   In the general election, he had a Libertarian opponent, as well as his ex-mistress who ran as an independent write-in candidate.