Post interesting results (biggest victories, milestones, etc)

[Linus Van Pelt]

One January 4, 2011, you can drive:

1.  Across Pennsylvania on I-80 and never enter a Democratic district.

Given that the I-80 runs an almost entirely rural course across the north-central part of the state, this actually wouldn't be all that interesting even if it were true, which it isn't, since Jason Altmire is still with us.

[Torie]

Wally Herger, the Republican in CA-02, won with 57%. He got 58% in 2008. That can't be good news for him.

I noticed that too. Don't know what caused it (maybe the Democrat was popular in Butte County or something), but there is plenty of Republican territory around him. He shouldn't be too impacted by redistricting. CA-3 on the other hand.....

Whitman didn't do much better than Herger's percentage in CA-02 it looks like. She had a larger margin over Brown there than Herger did over his opponent, only because the bulk of the third party vote in the governor's race went to the Dem in CA-02.

[minionofmidas]

In PA, the way Lackawanna has held up for the Dems in contrast to the southwestern counties is kind of interesting.

...though I notice Joe Sestak won Greene County, which is more than can be said of Barack Obama.

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Yeah, that is hilarious.

[Torie]

In PA, the way Lackawanna has held up for the Dems in contrast to the southwestern counties is kind of interesting.

...though I notice Joe Sestak won Greene County, which is more than can be said of Barack Obama.

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Yeah, that is hilarious.

Critically, Niagara County took out a Dem State senator in a huge upset, turning control of the body back to the GOP.

[minionofmidas]

In the long run, quite probably so. With the usual pattern of presidential races being slightly earlier than downballot.

[nclib]

The only non-coastal states to have a majority Democratic House delegation are NM, IA, and VT.

[J. J.]

In PA, the way Lackawanna has held up for the Dems in contrast to the southwestern counties is kind of interesting.

It's called the "Southwest Swing." 

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Barely, by 2 votes. More impressive is that Toomey won Fayette County, and Corbett won EVERY county in South Western Pennsylvania including Allegheny.

The Western PA realignment is real. The GOP margins in Westmoreland were nothing short of astounding, and they continued all the way down to the local races.

Further, there is no way to blame this on "eeeevviiiiillllll White racists" as was done after 2008. Instead, this is merely a continuation of what started back in 2000.

2000: Westmoreland Flipped.
2004: Greene and Lawrence Flipped
2008: Fayette, Washington, and Beaver flipped (and Cambria barely held out.)
2010 and beyond: Realignment is complete.

I think the interesting thing is that Toomey carried the Southwest overall (The "southwest" being any county bordering Allegheny, Beaver, and Washington counties).

[JohnnyLongtorso]

Who is the youngest person elected this year? Anyone born in 1980s?

Adam Kinzinger in IL-11 is 32. I think he's probably the youngest.

[Nichlemn]

One January 4, 2011, you can drive:

1.  Across Pennsylvania on I-80 and never enter a Democratic district.

Given that the I-80 runs an almost entirely rural course across the north-central part of the state, this actually wouldn't be all that interesting even if it were true, which it isn't, since Jason Altmire is still with us.

If either Altimire or Critz had lost (both won by slim margins), there would be 12-13 (depending on NY-25) contiguous districts across OH, PA, WV and NY that were Republican pick-ups.

[Nichlemn]

Who is the youngest person elected this year? Anyone born in 1980s?

Adam Kinzinger in IL-11 is 32. I think he's probably the youngest.

So Aaron Schock remains the Baby of the House?

[JohnnyLongtorso]

Yeah, Amash wins. More of the 30-something club:

Sean Duffy, Frank Guinta, Jeff Landry - 39
Kristi Noem, Tom Reed, Todd Young - 38
Stephen Fincher, Cedric Richmond - 37
Cory Gardner, Jon Runyan - 36
Kevin Yoder - 34

And here are the old-timers:

Quico Canseco, Daniel Webster - 61
Mike Kelly, Dennis Ross - 62
David McKiney - 63
Scott DesJarlais - 64
Frederica Wilson - 68 (!) - I think this may be a record for a freshman; I'm pretty sure Diane Watson, at 67, was previously the oldest newly-minted congressperson.

[Nichlemn]

Frederica Wilson - 68 (!) - I think this may be a record for a freshman; I'm pretty sure Diane Watson, at 67, was previously the oldest newly-minted congressperson.

I believe that honour goes to George W. Crockett, Jr. who was 71 when first elected.

[Meeker]

In PA, the way Lackawanna has held up for the Dems in contrast to the southwestern counties is kind of interesting.

...though I notice Joe Sestak won Greene County, which is more than can be said of Barack Obama.

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Yeah, that is hilarious.

Critically, Niagara County took out a Dem State senator in a huge upset, turning control of the body back to the GOP.

Dave's Niagara County numbers are wrong. According to the NY Times, Gillibrand won it 55-43.

[Guderian]

I think Schock is still the youngest.   Justin Amash is 30, Jaime Herrera is 32 , and Martha Roby is 34. 

Amash is also the first Palestinian-American in Congress (he's a Christian, though). His father grew up in a refugee camp. Amash seems to be a Ron Paul Republican (not surprisingly, some might say). Can't believe this guy flew under my radar.

[Brittain33]

I think Schock is still the youngest.   Justin Amash is 30, Jaime Herrera is 32 , and Martha Roby is 34. 

Amash is also the first Palestinian-American in Congress (he's a Christian, though). His father grew up in a refugee camp. Amash seems to be a Ron Paul Republican (not surprisingly, some might say). Can't believe this guy flew under my radar.

Wasn't Sununu Palestinian-American, by way of Lebanon?

[JohnnyLongtorso]

Frederica Wilson - 68 (!) - I think this may be a record for a freshman; I'm pretty sure Diane Watson, at 67, was previously the oldest newly-minted congressperson.

I believe that honour goes to George W. Crockett, Jr. who was 71 when first elected.

Ah, thanks. I've been wondering for a while now whether someone beat Watson.

[Torie]

I think Schock is still the youngest.   Justin Amash is 30, Jaime Herrera is 32 , and Martha Roby is 34. 

Amash is also the first Palestinian-American in Congress (he's a Christian, though). His father grew up in a refugee camp. Amash seems to be a Ron Paul Republican (not surprisingly, some might say). Can't believe this guy flew under my radar.

Wasn't Sununu Palestinian-American, by way of Lebanon?

Yep.

[Vepres]

Senate results by region:

Northeast (CT, DE, MD, NH, NY, NY(sp), PA, VT)
40.12%R – 58.46%D – 1.42%I/O

Southeast (AL, AR, GA, FL, LA, NC, OK, SC)
56.36% - 31.32%D – 12.31%I/O

Midwest (IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MO, ND, OH, SD*, WI, WV)
52.74%R – 43.55%D – 3.71%I/O

Mountain West (AZ, CO, ID, NV, UT)
54.30%R – 40.21%D – 5.49%I/O

Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA**)
43.61% - 52.66%D – 3.73%I/O

* Took the sum of the House results and gave them to Thune
** 90% are in, so I multiplied each total by 10/9

[J. J.]

One January 4, 2011, you can drive:

1.  Across Pennsylvania on I-80 and never enter a Democratic district.

Given that the I-80 runs an almost entirely rural course across the north-central part of the state, this actually wouldn't be all that interesting even if it were true, which it isn't, since Jason Altmire is still with us.

I didn't see that slight enclave in Mercer.  However, this is possibly the furthest you could go on I-80 since at least 1984.

[Nichlemn]

Single party congressional delegations (that is, both House and Senate):

Republicans turned ID, KS all Republican. Democrats gained DE, HA. Democrats retain a 6-3 edge in single party delegations (counting Lieberman and Sanders as Dems), with CT, MA, RI, VT, DE, HA versus ID, KS, WY for GOP.

It seems unusual as smaller states are most likely to have one party Congressional delegations and smaller states tend to be Republican. However, this is mostly a function of Democratic Senators from small Republican-leaning states who might not have survived had they been up for re-election this year.

If we go House only, it's tied at 7-7 (GOP adding MT, ND, SD, NE and Democrats adding ME).

[Guderian]

I think Schock is still the youngest.   Justin Amash is 30, Jaime Herrera is 32 , and Martha Roby is 34. 

Amash is also the first Palestinian-American in Congress (he's a Christian, though). His father grew up in a refugee camp. Amash seems to be a Ron Paul Republican (not surprisingly, some might say). Can't believe this guy flew under my radar.

Wasn't Sununu Palestinian-American, by way of Lebanon?

Yep.

Sununus left Middle East before the endonym "Palestinian" became widespread, though.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Single party congressional delegations (that is, both House and Senate):

Republicans turned ID, KS all Republican. Democrats gained DE, HA. Democrats retain a 5-3 edge in single party delegations (counting Lieberman and Sanders as Dems), with CT, MA, RI, VT, DE, HA versus ID, KS, WY for GOP.

It seems unusual as smaller states are most likely to have one party Congressional delegations and smaller states tend to be Republican. However, this is mostly a function of Democratic Senators from small Republican-leaning states who might not have survived had they been up for re-election this year.

If we go House only, it's tied at 7-7 (GOP adding MT, ND, SD, NE and Democrats adding ME and MA).