Special state legislative elections thread (see OP for results/upcoming races)

[Lunar]

Well I for one am quite sure that there's a perfectly innocent explanation for those photographs.

Well the caption said birthday party 2008.  My general impression is that the male dancer was supposed to be some kind of "joke" picked by one of his friends, but I'm too lazy to actually research them.

[Brittain33]

Well I for one am quite sure that there's a perfectly innocent explanation for those photographs.

There are enough women in the picture that it looks more like cheap Cirque du Soleil than anything gay.

Did people see that video of male gymnasts performing for the Pope that was on Youtube about two months ago?

[Mississippi Political Freak]

In Pennsylvania's State Senate SD-11 special election,  it's a 58-42 Democratic hold according to  http://www.electionreturns.state.pa.us/ElectionsInformation.aspx?FunctionID=12&ElectionID=42 (From Pa. Department of State).

[Badger]

And it comes out (no pun intended) that he's actually a closet case. Surprise surprise.

Great and typical NY Post article: Doesn't even mention the hypocrite voted against gay marriage, but basically does all but scream "rich corrupt QUEER politician!!! Did we mention he's GAY?!?" Nice job, Post.

[rbt48]

No surprise in LA State House special election tonight with two Republicans contesting the District 46 seat. 
"Mike Pete" Huval (R) 57.98% 4338
Craig Prosper (R) 42.02% 3144

The House is now 46D, 54R, 4I, 1 vacant.
http://members.cox.net/rbt48/weather/Presidential_Elections/2010_State_Legislatures_post_election.pdf

[rbt48]

A close race in Louisiana for the vacant State House District 47 seat -
40 of 47 precincts reporting:
Linda Hardee (R)   49.67%   3051
"Bob" Hensgens (R)   50.33%   3092

[rbt48]

Hensgens lead grows to 162 votes.

42 of 47 precincts reporting

Linda Hardee (R)   48.73%   3111
"Bob" Hensgens (R)   51.27%   3273

[rbt48]

Final returns have Hensgens winning by 312 votes, 52.35 to 47.65%.

[they don't love you like i love you]

It appears that I missed that we actually had a special election for a vacant State Senate seat in St. Paul about three weeks ago when Dayton appointed the incumbent to head the Public Utilities Commission. Probably because it was not the slightest bit interesting (unsurprisingly):

Republican    GREG COPELAND    991   19.59   
Democratic-Farmer-Labor    MARY JO MCGUIRE    4059   80.25   
Write-In    WRITE-IN**    8   0.16

[JohnnyLongtorso]

There are three specials for the Wisconsin Assembly on Tuesday, left vacant by Walker appointees (all Republicans, obviously). Two are safe Republican seats, but the third could be interesting; it's a swingy seat in LaCrosse County that went for Kloppenburg by 52-48. The Dems have a candidate with a pretty good resume: he's been on the LaCrosse County Board for something like 25 years and is a professor at UW-LaCrosse.

[Meeker]

Looks like the Democrats won the swing seat pretty solidly - 15/26 precincts reporting and the Democrat is ahead 55-45.

[JohnnyLongtorso]

Yeah, the Democrat has outperformed Kloppenburg's numbers in all but one precinct so far.

[rbt48]

The Democrat Doyle winning in District 94 with 26 of 27 precincts reporting:

Doyle , Steve Dem 8,105 54%

Lautz , John GOP 7,021 46%

D pick-up of one.  Wisconsin State House now 59R, 38D, 1I, 1V.

[they don't love you like i love you]

So that means Kapanke is basically dead in the water. This is actually the most conservative seat in his district, the other two are the city of La Crosse (which has a PVI of around D+12) and the other being some traditionally D-leaning but not overwhelmingly rural areas. This seat being basically suburban La Crosse is the most Republican and the only one that voted for Bush 2004.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

In the conclusion to perhaps the last outstanding race of 2010, Republican Peter Durant won a special election tonight to resolve the tie between him and incumbent Rep. Geraldo Alicea.

Not sure of the exact numbers, but Redmassgroup is reporting a 55-vote victory margin.

[Mr.Phips]

In other news, Democrats appear to have held a State Senate seat in Maine.  The Democrat is leading 67%-33% with about two thirds reporting and the only town left to report was won by the Democrat in 2010 who only won districtwide by 75 votes. 

[JohnnyLongtorso]

Yeah, the Democrat won in Maine, as did the Democrat for the other House election in Massachusetts (10th Middlesex). Coincidentally, both won with a 68-32 margin. The Worcester Telegram & Gazette is reporting 3,325 votes for Durant, 3,270 for Alicea.

There was also a state House seat in Alabama that ended with a 54-46 win for the Republican... against a Constitution Party candidate.

[tpfkaw]

There was also a state House seat in Alabama that ended with a 54-46 win for the Republican... against a Constitution Party candidate.

LOL ... I bet the CPer got like 80% of the black vote too.

[JohnnyLongtorso]

It's southern Mobile County, there aren't any black people there.

[tpfkaw]

It's southern Mobile County, there aren't any black people there.

But of those which are there.

[Kevinstat]

Yeah, the Democrat won in Maine

Since she was (well, she might still be until tomorrow) a State Representative, there will be a special election for her House seat, although it could theoretically be left vacant if the town (presumably the selectmen or the town manager) never sent notice of the vacancy to... I forget whether it's the Governor or the Secretary of State but no matter... the seat will definitly be filled, perhaps on the second Tuesday in June when a lot of Maine municipalities have elections (thats the date of the primaries in even years) probably on November 8 ("Election Day," when there will probably be some referenda on the ballot), and it leans pretty strongly Democratic nowadays, although there was a fairly close race in 2006 of all years.

The recent special State Senate election could be described as a contest between the parties as to who could nominate the worst candidate, with the Republicans winning.

[Edited to reflect that I wasn't thinking when I said the special election might be held in mid-June, and that the election couldn't be held before the Legislature adjourns on June 15 and so the special election will likely be held in November.]

[they don't love you like i love you]

It's southern Mobile County, there aren't any black people there.

But of those which are there.

Most of them probably just didn't vote.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

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One of the interesting results of the 2010 elections here in Massachusetts were the tremendous (relatively) Republican gains in the State House. It's notable that the GOP did not clean up in marginal seats; instead, the GOP defeated incumbents and won open seats in areas that are heavily conservative (by Massachusetts standards). The Alicea seat in particular represents some fairly Republican territory -- Patrick won between 30 and 34 percent of the vote in every town that composes the district save for Southbridge, which he won by a 46–40 margin. Granted, Southbridge is the biggest town in the district, but still, it's a Baker-Brown district.

Historically, given the absence of an incumbent, Democrats have had the ability to play anywhere in the state -- few seats, if any, were truly "safe Republican." (It is quite possible for Democrats to someday rule the State Senate by a 40-0 margin.) The house seats Republicans took last year are quite holdable (given the powerful incumbency edge in MA), but the question remains: Was 2010 a fluke, or are Massachusetts conservatives getting more partisan?

[Verily]

Maybe, but low-turnout special elections mean nothing in this regard (especially when the result is so close to the 2010 result, would be different if Durant won 60% of the vote or something).

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Maybe, but low-turnout special elections mean nothing in this regard (especially when the result is so close to the 2010 result, would be different if Durant won 60% of the vote or something).

Well, Alicea is an incumbent, after all, and incumbents simply don't lose general elections in this state.