Challenge and Choice, an Obama TL

[NewYorkExpress]

Idaho

Governor

Butch Otter (R) 74%
Keith Allred (D) 23%
Ted Dunlap (L) 1.7%
Pro-Life (I) 1.3%

Senate

Mike Crapo (R) 80%
Tom Sullivan (D) 18%
Randy Bergquist (Constitution) 2%

First Congressional District

Raul Labrador (R) 49%
Walt Minnick (D) 47%
Mike Washburn (L) 4%

R+25

Second Congressional District

Mike Simpson (R) 77%
Mike Crawford (D) 21%
Brian Schad (I) 2%

Minnesota

Governor

Tim Pawlenty (R) 42%
Mark Dayton (D) 40%
Tom Horner (Independence) 12%
Farheen Hakeem (G) 5%
Chris Wright (Legalize Marijuana) 1%

Senate-Special

Keith Ellison (D) 44%
Norm Coleman (R) 43%
Tim Penny (Independence) 13%

D+4

First Congressional Districtls

Tim Walz (D) 47%
Randy Demmer (R) 45%
Steve Wilson (Independence) 8%

Second Congressional District

John Kline (R) 51%
Shelley Madore (D) 49%

Third Congressional District

Satveer Chaudhary (D) 49%
Erik Paulsen (R) 46%
Jon Olseon (Independence) 5%

R+23

Fourth Congressional District

Betty McCollum (D) 66%
Teresa Collett (R) 32%
Steve Carlson (Independence) 2%

Fifth Congressional District (Keith Ellison running for Senate)

Ilhan Omar (D) 67%
Joel Demos (R) 24%
Tom Schrunk (Independence) 9%

Sixth Congressional District (Michelle Bachmann retiring, has set up Presidential Exploratory Committee)

Tarryl Clark (D) 52%
Tom Emmer (R) 45%
Bob Andersen (Independence) 3%

R+22

Seventh Congressional District

Collin Petersen (D) 54%
Lee Byberg (R) 44%
Glen Menze (Independence) 2%

Eighth Congressional District (James Oberstar retiring)

Kent Eken (D) 49%
Chip Craavack (R) 46%
Timothy Olson (Independence) 2%
Richard Burton (Constitution) 2%

[President of the great nation of 🏳️‍⚧️]

I see the Squad are getting an early start.

[NewYorkExpress]

I see the Squad are getting an early start.

AOC's still too young, so we've got a few years to go for her (I might consider having her mount a long-shot bid for Mayor of New York against De Blasio in 2013 though...).

Ayanna Pressley just got elected to the Boston City Council this year. With Scott Brown having been elected Governor of Massachusetts, she's already considering a run for Governor in 2014.

The focus for the next year or so will likely be on the building Republican field for the Presidential race (John Ashcroft, Frank Keating and Rick Santorum have already announced, and Michelle Bachmann will likely announce any day now, plus there's speculation swirling around Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee,Sarah Palin, and numerous others in the media.)

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

About Ilhan Omar though...

In 2010 she was a junior at North Dakota State University. Just wondering what she did between '08 and '10 to make this possible.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Would you need any help with post-2010 district boundaries?

[NewYorkExpress]

About Ilhan Omar though...

In 2010 she was a junior at North Dakota State University. Just wondering what she did between '08 and '10 to make this possible.

In this TL she transferred to the university of Minnesota shortly after election day 2008.

Would you need any help with post-2010 district boundaries?

The boundaries for redistricting 2010 aren't going to be very different from IRL, as a matter of convenience for me.

If I were to continue beyond 2020, then we could talk about it,or if mid-decade redistricting comes up, which is very possible in states like Texas and North Carolina.

[NewYorkExpress]

Pennsylvania

Governor (Ed Rendell term-limited)

R+2/D-3

Tom Corbett (R) 50.55%
Dan Onoranto (D) 49.45%

Senate (Joe Hoeffel defeated in Democratic Primary)

Pat Toomey (R) 53%
Michael Nutter (D) 47%

D+3

First Congressional District

Bob Brady reelected unopposed.

Second Congressional District

Chaka Fattah (D) 90%
Rick Hellberg (R) 10%

Third Congressional District

Kathy Dahlkemper (D) 51%
Mike Kelly (R) 49%

Fourth Congressional District

Keith Rothfus (R) 53%
Jason Altmire (D) 47%

R+23

Fifth Congressional District

Glenn Thompson (R) 61%
Michael Pipe (D) 35%
Vernon Etzel (L) 4%

Sixth Congressional District

Jim Gerlach (R) 51%
Manan Trivedi (D) 49%

Seventh Congressional District

Joe Sestak (D) 55%
Pat Meehan (R) 45%

Eighth Congressional District

Mike Fitzpatrick (D) 52%
Patrick Murphy (R) 48%

R+24

Ninth Congressional District

Bill Shuster (R) 75%
Tom Connors (D) 25%

Tenth Congressional District

Tom Marino (R) 51%
Chris Carney (D) 49%

R+25

Eleventh Congressional District

Paul Kanjorski (D) 51%
Lou Barletta (R) 49%

Twelfth Congressional District (John Murtha died on February 8. A special election was scheduled for May, but was canceled, after only the Democratic Party nominated a candidate. Mark Critz, who was the Democratic nominee in that special was sworn in, after a deal was reached between Pennsylvania Democrats and Republicans to seat Critz, and not hold a special election and ran in the general election.)

Tim Burns (R) 51%
Mark Critz (D) 49%

R+26

Thirteenth Congressional District

Allyson Schwartz (D) 59%
Dee Adcock (R) 41%


Fourteenth Congressional District

Mike Doyle (D) 70%
Melissa Haluszczack (R) 29%
Ed Bortz (G) 1%

Fifteenth Congressional District

Charlie Dent (R) 52%
John Callahan (D) 48%

Sixteenth Congressional District (Joe Pitts retiring)

Jane Earll (R) 51%
Joseph Sinnott (D) 49%

Seventeenth Congressional District

Dave Argall (R) 50.75%
Tim Holden (D) 49.25%

R+27

Eighteenth Congressional District

Tim Murphy (R) 59%
Dan Connolly (D) 41%

Nineteenth Congressional District

Todd Platts (R) 65%
Ryan Sanders (D) 35%

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

Still, it is near impossible for a college student to be elected to congress.

[NewYorkExpress]

Ohio

Governor

John Kasich (R) 51%
Ted Strickland (D) 44%
Ken Matesz (L) 3%
Dennis Spisak (G) 2%

R+3/D-4

Senate (George Voinovich retiring)

Jennifer Brunner (D) 49%
Ken Blackwell (R) 46%
Eric Deaton (Constitution) 3%
Daniel LaBotz (Socialist) 1%

D+4

First Congressional District (Steven Dreihaus running for Secretary of State of Ohio)

Mark Mallory (D) 50%
Steve Chabot (R) 47%
Jim Berns (L) 2%
Richard Stevenson (G) 1%

Second Congressional District

Jean Schmidt (R) 56%
Surya Yalamanchili (D) 41%
Marc Johnston (L) 3%

Third Congressional District

Mike Turner (R) 64%
Joe Roberts (D) 36%

Fourth Congressional District

Jim Jordan (R) 71%
Doug Litt (D) 27%
Donald Kissick (L) 2%

Fifth Congressional District

Bob Latta (R) 67%
Caleb Finkenbeiner (D) 31%
Brian Smith (L) 2%

Sixth Congressional District

Bill Johnson (R) 57%
Charlie Wilson (D) 40%
Martin Elnass (L) 2%
Richard Cadle (Constitution) 1%

R+28

Seventh Congressional District

Steve Austria (R) 59%
Bill Conner (D) 39%
John Anderson (L) 1%
David Easton (Constitution) 1%

Eighth Congressional District (John Boehner defeated in Republican Primary)

Keith Faber (R) 70%
Justin Coussoule (D) 25%
David Harlow (L) 3%
James Condit Jr. (Constitution) 2%

Ninth Congressional District

Marcy Kaptur (D) 68%
Rich Iott (R) 32%

Tenth Congressional District (Dennis Kucinich running for Senate)

Jane Campbell (D) 59%
Peter Corrigan (R) 37%
Jeff Goggins (L) 4%

Eleventh Congressional District

Marcia Fudge (D) 90%
Thomas Pekarek (R) 10%

Twelfth Congressional District

Paula Brooks (D) 51%
Pat Tiberi (R) 47%
Travis Irvine (L) 2%

R+27

Thirteenth Congressional District

Betty Sutton (D) 60%
Tom Ganley (R) 40%

Fourteenth Congressional District

William O'Neil (D) 49%
Steven LaTourette (D) 48.6%
John Jelenic (L) 2.4%

R+26

Fifteenth Congressional District

Mary Jo Kilroy (D) 49%
Steve Stivers (R) 46%
David Ryon (Constitution) 4%
William Kammerer (L) 1%

Sixteenth Congressional District

John Boccieri (D) 48%
Jim Renacci (R) 46%
Jeffery Blevins (L) 6%

Seventeenth Congressional District

Tim Ryan (D) 61%
Jim Traficant (I) 25%
Jim Graham (R) 14%

Eighteenth Congressional District

Bob Gibbs (R) 49%
Zack Space (D) 48%
Lindsey Sutton (Constitution) 3%

R+27

[NewYorkExpress]

Still, it is near impossible for a college student to be elected to congress.

Near impossible, yes. However, more of Minneapolis's power brokers were interested in running against Ellison for Governor or in the Special election against Norm Coleman than they were running for the seat he was vacating.

Omar defeated State Representative Raymond Dehn and Minneapolis City Councilwoman Elizabeth Glidden in the DFL Primary, getting 39% of the vote to Glidden's 36% and Dehn's 25%.

[NewYorkExpress]

Washington

Senate

Patty Murray (D) 55%
Dino Rossi (R) 45%

First Congressional District

Jay Inslee (D) 64%
James Watkins (R) 36%

Second Congressional District

Rick Larsen (D) 55%
John Koster (R) 45%

Third Congressional District (Brian Baird retiring)

Dennis Heck (D) 51%
Jaime Herrera Beutler (R) 49%

Fourth Congressional District

Doc Hastings (R) 60%
Jay Clough (D) 40%

Fifth Congressional District

Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R) 61%
Daryl Romeyn (D) 39%

Sixth Congressional District

Norm Dicks (D) 64%
Doug Cloud (R) 36%

Seventh Congressional District (Jim McDermott retiring)

Pramila Jayapal (D) 52%
Bruce Harrell (D) 48%

Eighth Congressional District

Suzan DelBene (D) 51%
Dave Reichert (R) 49%

R+26

Ninth Congressional District

Adam Smith (D) 60%
Dick Muri (R) 40%

Oregon

Governor

Sam Adams (D) 55%
Chris Dudley (R) 43%
Wes Wagner (L) 1%
Greg Kord (Constiution) 1%

Senate

Ron Wyden (D) 67%
Jim Huffman (R) 23%
Marc Delphine (L) 5%
Rick Staggenborg (Progressive) 3%
Bruce Cronk (WFP) 2%

First Congressional District

David Wu (D) 50%
Rob Cornilles (R) 44%
H. Joe Tabor (L) 4%
Don LaMunyon (Constitution) 1%
Chris Henry (G) 1%

Second Congressional District

Greg Walden (R) 63%
Joyce Segars (D) 37%

Third Congressional District

Earl Blumenauer (D) 65%
Delia Lopez (R) 31%
Jeff Lawrence (L) 3%
Michael Meo (G) 1%

Fourth Congressional District

Peter DeFazio won reelection unopposed.

Fifth Congressional District

Kurt Schrader (D) 54%
Scott Brunn (R) 45%
Chris Lugo (G) 1%

[NewYorkExpress]

Colorado

Governor (Barbara O'Brien retiring)

John Hickenlooper (D) 51%
John Suthers (R) 29%
Tom Tancredo (Constitution) 18%
James Brown (L) 2%

Senate

Ken Salazar (D) 49%
Jane Norton (R) 47%
Bob Kinsey (G) 2%
Mac Stringer (L) 2%

First Congressional District

Diana DeGette (D) 77%
Mike Fallon (R) 15%
Clint Jones (L) 4%
Gary Swing (G) 3%
Chris Styskal (Constitution) 1%

Second Congressional District

Jared Polis (D) 64%
Stephen Bailey (R) 33%
Jenna Goss (Constitution) 2%
Curtis Harris (L) 1%

Third Congressional District

John Salazar (D) 50%
Scott Tipton (R) 46%
Gregory Gilman (L) 4%

Fourth Congressional District

Cory Gardner (R) 50%
Betsy Markey (D) 45%
Doug Aden (Constitution) 5%

R+27

Fifth Congressional District

Doug Lamborn (R) 89%
Jerell Klaver (L) 11%

Sixth Congressional District

Mike Coffman (R) 64%
John Flerlage (D) 34%
Rob McNealy (L) 2%

Seventh Congressional District

Ed Perlmutter (D) 54%
Gigi Dennis (R) 45%
Buck Bailey (L) 1%

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Would you need any help with post-2010 district boundaries?

The boundaries for redistricting 2010 aren't going to be very different from IRL, as a matter of convenience for me.

If I were to continue beyond 2020, then we could talk about it,or if mid-decade redistricting comes up, which is very possible in states like Texas and North Carolina.

Understood.

[NewYorkExpress]

New Mexico

Governor (Bill Richardson term-limited)

Diane Denish (D) 52%
Doug Turner (R) 48%

First Congressional District

Martin Heinrich (D) 55%
Jon Barela (R) 45%

Second Congressional District

Susana Martinez (R) 54%
Harry Teague (D) 46%

R+28

Third Congressional District

Ben Ray Lujan (D) 70%
Adam Kokesh (R) 30%

Texas (Rick Perry defeated in Republican Primary)

Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) 56%
Bill White (D) 39%
Kathy Glass (L) 3%
Deb Shafto (G) 2%

First Congressional District

Louie Gohmert was reelected unopposed.

Second Congressional District

Ted Poe was reelected unopposed.

Third Congressional District (Sam Johnson retiring)

Ken Paxton (R) 72%
John Lingenfelder (D) 27%
Christopher Claytor (L) 1%

Fourth Congressional District (Ralph Hall retiring)

Kevin Eltfie (R) 65%
Stephen James Frost (D) 33%
Jim Prindle (L) 2%

Fifth Congressional District

Jeb Hensarling (R) 66%
Tom Berry (D) 33%
Ken Ashby (L) 1%

Sixth Congressional District

Joe Barton (R) 69%
David Cozad (D) 30%
Byron Severns (L) 1%

Seventh Congressional District

John Culberson was reelected unopposed.

Eighth Congressional District

Kevin Brady reelected unopposed.

Ninth Congressional District

Al Green (D) 78%
Steve Mueller (R) 20%
Michael Hope (L) 2%

Tenth Congressional District

Michael McCaul (R) 66%
Ted Ankrum (D) 33%
Jeremiah Jenkins (L) 1%

Eleventh Congressional District

Mike Conway (R) 89%
James Qullian (D) 9%
Jim Howe (G) 2%

Twelfth Congressional District

Kay Granger (R) 77%
Tracey Smith (D) 22%
Matthew Solodow (L) 1%

Thirteenth Congressional District

Mac Thornberry won reelection unopposed.

Fourteenth Congressional District (Ron Paul is retiring, and has formed a Presidential Exploratory Committee)

George P. Bush (R) 66%
Robert Pruett (D) 34%

Fifteenth Congressional District

Rueben Hinojosa (D) 60%
Eddie Zamora (R) 38%
Aaron Cohn (L) 2%

Sixteenth Congressional District (Silvestre Reyes retiring)

Beto O'Rourke (D) 63%
Tim Besco (R) 34%
Bill Collins (L) 3%

Seventeenth Congressional District

Bill Flores (R) 55%
Chet Edwards (D) 44%
Richard Kelly (L) 1%

R+29

Eighteenth Congressional District

Sheila Jackson Lee was reelected unopposed.

Nineteenth Congressional District

Randy Neugebauer was reelected unopposed.

Twentieth Congressional District (Charlie Gonzalez running for Attorney General)

Joaquin Castro (D) 60%
Clayton Trotter (R) 39%
Michael Idrogo (L) 1%

Twenty-First Congressional District

Lamar Smith was reelected unopposed.

Twenty-Second Congressional District

Pete Olson was reelected unopposed.

Twenty-Third Congressional District

Ciro Rodriguez (D) 48%
Quico Canseco (R) 45%
Ed Scharf (G) 4%
Martin Nitschke (L) 3%

Twenty-Fourth Congressional District

Kenny Marchant was reelected unopposed.

Twenty-Fifth Congressional District

Donna Campbell (R) 52%
Lloyd Doggett (D) 48%

R+30

Twenty-Sixth Congressional District

Michael Burgess (R) 89%
Mark Boler (L) 11%

Twenty-Seventh Congressional District

Solomon Ortiz (D) 50%
Blake Farenthold (R) 48%
Ed Mishou (L) 2%

Twenty-Eighth Congressional District

Henry Ceullar won reelection unopposed.

Twenty-Ninth Congressional District

Gene Green won reelection unopposed.

Thirtieth Congressional District

Eddie Bernice Johnson won reelection unopposed.

Thirty-First Congressional District

John Carter won reelection unopposed.

Thirty-Second Congressional District

Pete Sessions (R) 55%
Grier Raggio (D) 45%

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

I think Ron Wyden is a Democrat.

[NewYorkExpress]

I think Ron Wyden is a Democrat.

Yep, that's a typo on my part. He didn't switch parties. I'll fix it.

[NewYorkExpress]

California

Governor (Schwarzenegger term-limited, running for Senate)

Gavin Newsom (D) 57%
Meg Whitman (R) 38%
Dale Ogden (L) 1.4%
Carlos Alvarez (Peace And Freedom) 1.3%
Chelene Nightengale (American Independent) 1.2%
Laura Wells (G) 1.1%

R+2/D-3

Senate

Barbara Boxer (D) 48%
Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) 44%
Gail Lightfoot (L) 3%
Duane Roberts (G) 2.75%
Marsha Feinland (Peace and Freedom) 1.55%
Edward Noonan (American Independent) 0.7%

First Congressional District

Mike Thompson (D) 67%
Loren Hanks (R) 31%
Carol Wolman (G) 1%
Mike Rodrigues (L) 1%

Second Congressional District (Wally Herger running for the State Board of Equalization, Seat Two)

Dan Logue (R) 59%
Jim Reed (D) 41%

Third Congressional District

Ken Cooley (D) 47%
Dan Lungren (R) 45%
Douglas Arthur Tuma (L) 4%
Mike Roskey (Peace And Freedom) 3%
Jerry Leidecker (American Independent) 1%

R+29

Fourth Congressional District

Tom McClintock (R) 64%
Clint Curtis (D) 29%
Benjamin Emery (G) 5%

Fifth Congressional District

Doris Matsui (D) 66%
Paul Smith (R) 32%
Gerald Allen Frink (Peace and Freedom) 2%

Sixth Congressional District (Lynn Woolsey running for Lieutenant Governor)

Jared Huffman (D) 64%
Jim Judd (R) 34%
Joel Smolen (L) 1.2%
Eugene Ruyle (Peace and Freedom) 0.8%

Seventh Congressional District

George Miller (D) 68%
Rick Tubbs (R) 32%

Eighth Congressional District

Nancy Pelosi (D) 87%
John Dennis (R) 5%
Gloria La Riva (Peace and Freedom) 5%
Phillip Berg (L) 3%

Ninth Congressional District

Barbara Lee (D) 92%
Gerald Hashimoto (R) 4%
Dave Heller (G) 2%
James Eyer (L) 1%
Larry Allen (Peace and Freedom) 1%

Tenth Congressional District

John Garamendi (D) 62%
Gary Clift (R) 36%
Jeremy Cloward (G) 2%

Eleventh Congressional District

Jerry McNerney (D) 57%
David Harmer (R) 40%
David Christiensen (American Independent) 3%

Twelfth Congressional District

Jackie Speier (D) 79%
Mike Maloney (R) 19%
Mark Paul Williams (L) 2%

Thirteenth Congressional District (Pete Stark defeated in Democratic Primary)

Eric Swalwell (D) 69%
Forest Baker (R) 31%

Fourteenth Congressional District

Anna Eshoo (D) 74%
Dave Chapman (R) 25%
Paul Lazaga (L) 1%

Fifteenth Congressional District

Mike Honda (D) 75%
Scott Kirkland (R) 25%

Sixteenth Congressional District

Zoe Lofgren (D) 74%
Daniel Sahagun (R) 25%
Edward Gonzalez (L) 1%

Seventeenth Congressional District

Sam Farr (D) 69%
Jeff Taylor (R) 28%
Mary Larkin (L) 1.7%
Eric Petersen (G) 1.3%

Eighteenth Congressional District (Dennis Cardoza running for Insurance Commissioner)

Cathleen Galgiani (D) 54%
Mike Berryhill (R) 46%

Nineteenth Congressional District (George Radonovich retiring)

Chuck Poochigian (R) 55%
Loraine Goodwin (D) 45%

Twentieth Congressional District

Jim Costa (D) 50.67%
Andy Vidak (R) 49.33%

Twenty-First Congressional District

Devin Nunes (R) 60%
Juan Arambula (I) 40%

Twenty-Second Congressional District

Kevin McCarthy was reelected unopposed.

Twenty-Third Congressional District

Lois Capps (D) 64%
Tom Watson (R) 32%
Darrell Stafford (L) 2%
John Victor Hager (I) 2%

Twenty-Fourth Congressional District

Elton Gallegy (R) 52%
Timothy Allison (D) 48%

Twenty-Fifth Congressional District

Howard McKeon (R) 51%
Jackie Conaway (D) 49%

Twenty-Sixth Congressional District (David Dreier running for Controller)

Bob Huff (R) 49%
Russ Warner (D) 48.5%
Randall Weissbach (L) 1.7%
David Miller (American Independent) 0.8%

Twenty-Seventh Congressional District

Brad Sherman (D) 66%
Mark Reed (R) 34%

Twenty-Eighth Congressional District

Howard Berman (D) 67%
Merlin Froyd (R) 32%
Carlos Rodriguez (L) 1%

Twenty-Ninth Congressional District

Adam Schiff (D) 70%
John Colbert (R) 29%
Bill Cushing (L) 1%

Thirtieth Congressional District

Henry Waxman (D) 75%
Charles Wilkerson (R) 22%
Erich Miller (L) 2%
Richard Castaldo (Peace and Freedom) 1%

Thirty-First Congressional District

Xavier Becerra (D) 85%
Stephen Carlton Smith (R) 15%

Thirty-Second Congressional District

Judy Chu (D) 86%
Ed Schmerling (R) 14%

Thirty-Third Congressional District (Diane Watson retiring)

Karen Bass (D) 88%
James Andion (R) 12%

Thirty-Fourth Congressional District

Lucille Roybal-Allard (D) 90%
Wayne Miller (R) 10%

Thirty-Fifth Congressional District

Maxine Waters (D) 89%
K. Bruce Brown (R) 11%

Thirty-Sixth Congressional District (Jane Harman retiring)

Herb Wesson (D) 59%
Mattie Fein (R) 40%
Herb Peters (L) 1%

Thirty-Seventh Congressional District

Laura Richardson (D) 77%
Star Parker (R) 22%
Nick Dibs (I) 1%

Thirty-Eighth Congressional District

Grace Napolitano (D) 89%
Robert Vaughn (R) 11%

Thirty-Ninth Congressional District

Linda Sanchez (D) 80%
Larry Steven Andre (R) 19%
John Smith (American Independent) 1%

Fortieth Congressional District

Jose Solorio (D) 50.5%
Ed Royce (R) 49.5%

R+28

Forty-First Congressional District (Jerry Lewis retiring)

Bob Dutton (R) 56%
Pat Meagher (D) 44%

Forty-Second Congressional District (Gary Miller retiring)

Josh Newman (D) 48%
Ling Ling Chang (R) 47%
Mark Lambert (L) 5%

R+27

Forty-Third Congressional District

Joe Baca (D) 60%
Scott Folkens (R) 40%

Forty-Fourth Congressional District

Ken Calvert (R) 51%
Bill Hedrick (D) 49%

Forty-Fifth Congressional District

Steve Pougnet (D) 49%
Mary Bono Mack (R) 48.7%
Bill Lussenhide (American Independent) 1.3%

R+26

Forty-Sixth Congressional District

Dana Rohrabacher (R) 62%
Ken Arnold (D) 38%

Forty-Seventh Congressional District

Loretta Sanchez (D) 65%
Van Tran (R) 35%

Forty-Eighth Congressional District

John Campbell (R) 52%
Beth Krom (D) 47%
Mike Binkley (L) 1%

Forty-Ninth Congressional District

Darrell Issa (R) 64%
Howard Katz (D) 34%
Mike Paster (L) 1.5%
Dion Clark (American Independent) 0.5%

Fiftieth Congressional District

Brian Bilbray (D) 56%
Francine Busby (R) 41%
Lars Grossmith (L) 1.5%
Miriam Clark (Peace and Freedom) 1.5%

Fifty-First Congressional District (Bob Filner resigned on August 10, following multiple sexual harassment claims being made against him. A special election was held on the same day as the general election.)

Special Election

Ben Hueso (D) 55%
Kevin Falcouner (R) 45%

General Election

Ben Hueso (D) 68%
Nick Popaditch (R) 32%

Fifty-Second Congressional District

Duncan Hunter (R) 69%
Ray Lutz (D) 30%
Michael Benoit (L) 1%

Fifty-Third Congressional District

Susan Davis (D) 70%
Michael Peter Crimmins (R) 29%
Paul Michael-Dekker (L) 1%

[NewYorkExpress]

The good news for Democrats coming out of the midterms was that they would hold the House of Reprsentatives, and they would expand their majority in the Senate. With a runoff in Georgia still to take place, Democrats had the power to break fillibusters on pretty much anything, assuming all members of the caucus agreed.

The other big event, was the soon to be scheduled special election to replace Kay Bailey Hutchison, which would likely be held in late February or early March. Several Democrats and Republicans had already expressed interest in running for the seat.

In Presidential news, both Ron Paul and Michelle Bachmann had retired from their house seats to form Exploratory Committees for President, and on November 4, both announced their candidacy.

Paul's announcement speech, delivered in Galveston, called for the abolition of most federal agencies, the repeal of all amendments to the Constitution after the Bill of Rights (for which he was attacked by John Ashcroft and President Obama), and a constitutional amendment prohibiting amending the Constitution.

Bachmann's announcement, meanwhile, made at the Gateway Arena in Sioux Falls, Iowa, hit Obama and the Democratic Congress for "socialism", despite Obama being the most moderate President of either party since Carter to this point in his Presidency. She called for Constitutional Amendments banning abortion, same-sex marriage, and enshrining the Death Penalty in the Constitution.

On November 6, the Supreme Court ruled in 5-4 margin (Roberts, Alito, Kennedy, Thomas, Garland in the majority, with Kennedy writing the majority opinion) in Citizens United vs. FEC that the McCain-Feingold Act was unconstitutional in its entirety.

Despite the initial furor that ruling created at the White House and among Democrats on Capitol Hill, it was overshadowed by a much bigger issue, when a bombshell report was released by The Guardian, revealing that the Pakistani Government, including, then-President Pervez Musharraf had been aware that Osama Bin Laden had been hiding in Abbotabad since 2006, and had actively sought to conceal the information from the U.S Government.

President Obama demanded that Pakistan hand over Musharraf, and any other officials in their government who may have been aware of Bin Laden's location or that they would "face the consequences".Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani refused, and as such, three teams of Army Rangers arrived in Pakistan in Mid-November, successfully capturing Musharraf, the former head of the ISI, Nadeem Taj and the Chief of Army Staff  Ashfaq Kayani, who had also been the former head of the ISI, with no casualties or injuries. All three would be tried in the Southern District of New York before Judge Deborah Batts, on charges of Material Support of Terrorism, and Obstruction of Justice, and would be sentenced to twelve years in prison for Taj and Kayani, and fourteen years in prison for Musharraf.

The United Nations Security Council met to discuss the U.S incursion into Pakistan, but a Chinese attempt to criticize the U.S the security council was met with vetos from the U.S, France and the United Kingdom.

President Obama's advisers had blamed the losses in the House on his unwillingness to fill the position of Secretary of Homeland Security, and so, on November 19, Obama announced that outgoing Senator Russ Feingold would be his nominee for that department. Feingold quickly got at hearing, and on December 15, was confirmed 60-39 (Olympia Snowe voted with the Democrats, Russ Feingold, being the nominee in question, did not vote.).

President Obama would also get to fill a fourth Supreme Court seat with the new Congress, as Stephen Breyer announced he would retire when the court completed it's term in June. In early January, Obama nominated Southern District of New York Judge Denny Chin to replace Breyer. Chin faced almost no real struggle getting confirmed, and earned confirmation 93-6 on March 9, 2011 (Only Rick Scott, Mitch McConnell, Jeff Sessions, Jim DeMint, Thad Cochran and Mike Crapo voted no on Chin's confirmation). Anthony Kennedy, meanwhile was the subject of retirement speculation as well, but would neither confirm nor deny that he was considering retirement.

After the midterms, Secretary of Commerce Carly Fiorinia (who had just barely been confirmed by the Senate back in 2009- outgoing Vice President Cheney had needed to break a tie vote) announced she would be resigning, effective on Thanksgiving, and would launch a bid for President as a Republican.

Fiorina's announcement, made on December 4, at Stanford University, called for greater government investment in STEM fields, lower tax rates and reducing the number of federal judges.

On January 2, 2011 Obama nominated former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to replace Fiorina. Bloomberg's nomination drew fire, both from more left-wing Senators, and from both Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton, who went on record against him as a "failed mayor". Bloomberg withdrew from consideration on January 17, 2011. Obama tried again, nominating EBay founder Pierre Omidyar. Omidyar also ran into some criticism from the left (Bernie Sanders suggested on Meet the Press that Obama should try nominating "someone with no money".), but his nomination was less controversial, and he was confirmed on March 24, 2011, 67-19.

The date of the Georgia Senate runoff was set for the final Tuesday in November (much to the criticism of many, who complained there wasn't enough time to get runoff ballots out to military members).

Georgia Senate-Runoff

Johnny Isakson (R) 51%
Thurbert Baker (D) 49%

State of the Republican Primary Race (as of December 5, 2010)

National-PPP

John Ashcroft 13%
Michelle Bachmann 11%
Carly Fiorina 9%
Rick Santorum 9%
Frank Keating 5%
Ron Paul 4%
Undecided/Other 49%

Iowa Caucuses- Rasmussen

Michelle Bachmann 25%
Rick Santorum 21%
John Ashcroft 14%
Carly Fiorina 5%
Frank Keating 4%
Ron Paul 2%
Undecided/Other 29%

New Hampshire Primaries- WMUR/Saint Anselm College

Carly Fiorina 17%
John Ashcroft 15%
Ron Paul 11%
Michelle Bachmann 9%
Rick Santorum 6%
Frank Keating 5%
Undecided/Other 37%

Nevada Caucuses-PPP

Carly Fiorina 14%
Ron Paul 9%
John Ashcroft 9%
Rick Santorum 7%
Michelle Bachmann 5%
Frank Keating 5%
Undecided/Other 51%

South Carolina Primary-PPP

Rick Santorum 29%
John Ashcroft 20%
Michelle Bachmann 13%
Frank Keating 7%
Ron Paul 5%
Carly Fiorina 3%
Undecided/Other 32%

Florida Primary-PPP

John Ashcroft 19%
Carly Fiorina 10%
Rick Santorum 7%
Michelle Bachmann 5%
Frank Keating 4%
Ron Paul 2%
Undecided/Other 60%

Head To Head matchups-National-PPP

Barack Obama 45%
John Ashcroft 41%

Barack Obama 48%
Michelle Bachmann 39%

Carly Fiorina 47%
Barack Obama 46%

Barack Obama 48%
Rick Santorum 36%

Barack Obama 47%
Frank Keating 42%

Barack Obama 50%
Ron Paul 37%

[NewYorkExpress]

While the 2012 Presidential election was ramping up throughout November and December 2010, there were other events going on in the world, some of which affected American interests.

In Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez died after a heart attack suffered in Maturin, while giving a speech to a group of students at the Universidad de Oriente. After a special election, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolas Maduro was elected President of Venezuela, and in scathing speech, accused the United States of ordering Chavez's murder. President Obama and Secretary of State Panetta arranged the evacuation of Ambassador Patrick Duddy and the entire diplomatic staff in Venezuela, followed by the closing of all consular offices in the country.

Meanwhile, in Myanmar, almost months of protests in Yangon and Naypyidaw (there were protests every day between June 14 and November 10) against the continued influence of the military under the terms of the 2008 constitution, led to sixty-one deaths, before an agreement to write a new constitution, which would remove the one hundred sixty-six seats in the two houses of the legislature reserved for the military was reached on November 10.
New elections would be held on January 15.

Mynamar-House of Representatives

National League for Democracy: 299 seats
Union Solidarity and Development Party: 55 seats
Arakan National Party: 40 seats
Shan Nationalities League for Democracy: 19 seats
Pa-O National Organization: 12 seats
Ta'ang National Party: 8 seats
Zomi Congress for Democracy: 7 Seats

With the win, Aung San Suu Kyi was widely considered the frontrunner to become President of Myanmar. However, her husband and children were foreign citizens, and thus she was ineligible. So, the National League for Democracy chose to nominate Htin Kyaw, who easily was voted in by the legislature.

Meanwhile, in Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak was forced to resign by the Egyptian Military, after it came out that he had been caught on tape in a Cairo hotel with an Israeli prostitute. Vice President Omar Suleiman was in office for only one day as President, long enough to appoint a successor as Vice President, before also resigning because of ill health. The new President of Egypt would be the former Director General of the International Atomic Agency, Mohamed ElBaredi. The incident also caused both Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and Israeli  Foreign Minister Tzipi Livini to issue public apologies, with Livini traveling to Cairo to apologize in person. After the prostitute, a nineteen year old from Eilat was acquitted in an Israeli court (Egypt refused to try her, for political reasons), Justice Minister Avigdor Lieberman resigned from that position, and was reassigned to the position of Minister of Agriculture, essentially swapping cabinet positions with Labor's Shalom Simhon.

In North Korea, new minted dictator Kim Jong-Un, still smarting after a brief war with South Korea the previous year, caused major headaches for many governments around the world, after a student at the Free University of Berlin, while on school trip to South Korea, snuck across the DMZ, and attempted to perform an acapella version of Ride of the Valkyries to a group of North Korean soldiers in Kaesong. The soldiers shot him a total of sixty-three times, and buried him in an umarked grave, causing Germany, and the Netherlands, the student's home country to institute new sanctions on North Korea. The Netherlands also added sanctions against South Korea, because they allowed the student to slip across the border.

Meanwhile, retired Chess World Champion, and prominent opponent of Vladimir Putin, Garry Kasparov, was assassinated by a pair of gunmen in Donetsk, where he was scheduled to oversee an exhibition chess match between Hikaru Nakamura and Vladimir Kramnik. On the November 29 edition of The Situation Room, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said that "it is certain that Putin ordered the assassination of Garry Kasparov".

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

hows the economic recovery going?

[NewYorkExpress]

hows the economic recovery going?

Slightly more jobs are being added, but salaries have yet to recover to their pre-recession levels.

[NewYorkExpress]

The final weeks of December 2010 brought changes to the Presidential race in the United States. Frank Keating suspended his campaign on December 19, having only raised $607,000 throughout 2009 and 2010, and consistently struggling in the polls. He declined to make an endorsement, stating that he wanted to see the field "evolve". He also told Chris Wallace that he was "unsatisfied with the current field of Republican candidates". On December 22, Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice became the second Bush Cabinet member to announce a bid, stating that "President Obama's foreign policy is a disaster" in her announcement speech in Sacramento.

Rice's candidacy was met with annoyance from the right, as she was pro-choice and pro civil-union (she got attacked by both John Ashcroft and Rick Santorum for those positions her first day on the campaign trail), and there were questions over whether she could actually win over the moderates and independents needed to defeat Obama.

Republican Presidential Primary Polling, as of December 25, 2010

National-PPP

John Ashcroft 15%
Condolezza Rice 11%
Michelle Bachmann 10%
Rick Santorum 7%
Carly Fiorina 7%
Ron Paul 4%
Undecided/Other 39%

Iowa Caucuses-Selzer/Des Moines Register

Michelle Bachmann 24%
John Ashcroft 22%
Rick Santorum 16%
Carly Fiorina 5%
Condolezza Rice 5%
Ron Paul 3%
Undecided/Other 25%

New Hampshire Primary-PPP

Carly Fiorina 15%
Condolezza Rice 13%
Ron Paul 13%
John Ashcroft 9%
Rick Santorum 7%
Michelle Bachmann 6%
Undecided/Other 37%

Nevada Caucuses-PPP

Carly Fiorina 14%
Condolezza Rice 14%
Ron Paul 14%
John Ashcroft 12%
Rick Santorum 8%
Michelle Bachmann 6%
Undecided/Other 32%

South Carolina Primary-PPP

Rick Santorum 25%
Condolezza Rice 17%
John Ashcroft 15%
Michelle Bachmann 15%
Carly Fiorina 6%
Ron Paul 2%
Undecided/Other 20%

Florida Primary- PPP

Condolezza Rice 17%
John Ashcroft 15%
Carly Fiorina 15%
Michelle Bachmann 9%
Rick Santorum 7%
Ron Paul 1%
Undecided/Other 36%

Head To-Head matchups-National/General Election-PPP

Barack Obama 47%
John Ashcroft 42%

Barack Obama 45%
Condolezza Rice 45%

Barack Obama 46%
Carly Fiorina 46%

Barack Obama 49%
Michelle Bachmann 39%

Barack Obama 49%
Rick Santorum 38%

Barack Obama 52%
Ron Paul 35%

Meanwhile, at a meeting in Geneva on December 11, the International Olympic Committee named Munich the host of the 2018 Winter Olympics, Madrid the host of the 2020 Summer Olympics, Helsinki the host of the 2022 Winter Olympics, and New York City the host of the 2024 Summer Olympics. The rushed bidding process for the 2022 and 2024 Games led to speculation of bribes being paid, and on December 21, after an expose in The New York Times revealed that the IOC had been paid $1.56 billion in bribes by twenty different countries, including the United States, Germany, and Russia regarding Olympic bidding in 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024, IOC President Jacques Rogge was indicted in the Southern District in the Southern District of New York on a single count of bribery. Rogge pled guilty, and was sentenced by Federal Judge Jed Rakoff to one year in prison.

On December 16, 2010, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 (Sotomayor, Breyer, Lynch, Garland, Kennedy, with Lynch writing the majority opinion) in McDonald vs City of Chicago that Chicago's ordinance to ban handguns was permissible under the second amendment (Sotomayor wrote a seperate opinion from Lynch, calling for the Supreme Court to overturn District of Columbia vs. Heller).

On December 27, the RNC held it's vote to reelect it's chair. Michael Steele won reelection, defeating Reince Preibus on the fourth ballot. On the second day of the RNC's meeting, the committee to plan the primary and caucus schedule announced that all primaries and caucuses   for 2012 would be required to apportion their delegates in a winner-take-all style.

[NewYorkExpress]

As the new Congress was sworn in at the beginning of January, it was important to note Nancy Pelosi would remain Speaker of the House, despite early speculation (and Fox News pundits) stating that Republicans would win the House. The big loser was John Boehner who had lost his primary (but had found a job at Fox News), and as such was no longer Minority Leader.

Speaker of the House

Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Majority Leader

Steny Hoyer (D-MD)

Majority Whip

James Clyburn (D-SC)

Chair, DCCC

Xavier Becerra (D-CA)

Minority Leader

Paul Ryan (R-WI)

Minority Whip

Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WI)

Chair, NRCC

George P. Bush (R-TX)

Senate

Senate Majority Leader

Harry Reid (D-NV)

Senate Majority Whip

Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

Chair, DSCC

Dick Durbin (D, IL)

Senate Minority Leader

Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Senate Minority Whip

Judd Gregg (R-NH)

Chair, NRSC

Rick Scott (R, FL)

[NewYorkExpress]

On January 2, two more Republicans entered the Presidential race.

First, was former Representative Newt Gingrich, who had spent four years as Speaker of the House at the end of the Clinton Administration. His announcement speech, held in Marietta, Georgia, attacked Obama for his "Socialistic Worldview" and also hit rivals Carly Fiorina and Condolezza Rice as "too moderate".

The other candidate to declare on January 2, was former New Jersey Governor and EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman. Todd Whitman became the third former Bush official to enter the campaign, and her announcement speech called for a "bipartisan network of solutions".

With eight candidates now in the race, Republicans set about arranging the first round of debates, and the first debate was scheduled for January 10, at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, and was moderated by Christiane Amanpour, Campbell Brown and Ali Velshi, and would be aired on CNN.

Early on in the debate, fireworks were set off, when Condolezza Rice and Carly Fiorina attacked Newt Gingrich about his plan to dig for space rocks on the moon.

The next major highlight, in response to a question from Amanpour about whether the U.S should negotiate with North Korea over their nuclear weapons program, Rick Santorum answered that we should "just nuke Pyongyang" getting a swift rebuke from Condolezza Rice about the misuse of nuclear weapons.

Then, when Velshi asked if any candidate was willing to place restrictions on fossil fuels that didn't raise taxes, Ron Paul said "restrictions on business are unconstitutional", while Michelle Bachmann stated that "climate change is a myth, and therefore restrictions on fossil fuels aren't needed". Everyone else answered yes.

Next, Fiorina responded to a question from Amanpour about her record as CEO of Hewlett-Packard, by stating that "I did the best I could with the hand I was dealt".

The final question of the debate, from Brown, was also to Fiorina, asking if she thought Republican Primary voters would be willing to vote for someone who had served in the Obama Administration. Fiorina drew negative headlines when she refused to answer the question.

Republican Primary Polls, post First Debate (as of January 12, 2011)

National-Rasmussen

John Ashcroft 16%
Condolezza Rice 14%
Newt Gingrich 12%
Michelle Bachmann 9%
Carly Fiorina 9%
Rick Santorum 7%
Christine Todd Whitman 5%
Ron Paul 3%
Undecided/Other 28%

Iowa-Des Moines Register

Michelle Bachmann 23%
Newt Gingrich 16%
Rick Santorum 15%
John Ashcroft 15%
Christine Todd Whitman 5%
Carly Fiorina 5%
Condolezza Rice 4%
Ron Paul 3%
Undecided/Other 14%

New Hampshire-Boston Globe/WMUR

Condolezza Rice 19%
Ron Paul 16%
Christine Todd Whitman 11%
Carly Fiorina 9%
John Ashcroft 8%
Rick Santorum 6%
Michelle Bachmann 5%
Newt Gingrich 4%
Undecided/Other 22%

Nevada- Rasmussen
Condolezza Rice 17%
Carly Fiorina 13%
John Ashcroft 9%
Ron Paul 8%
Newt Gingrich 7%
Rick Santorum 5%
Christine Todd Whitman 4%
Michelle Bachmann 3%

South Carolina-PPP


Newt Gingrich 30%
Rick Santorum 21%
Condolezza Rice 14%
John Ashcroft 10%
Michelle Bachmann 9%
Carly Fiorina 3%
Christine Todd Whitman 2%
Ron Paul 0%
Undecided/Other 11%

Florida-PPP

Newt Gingrich 22%
Condolezza Rice 16%
Rick Santorum 9%
John Ashcroft 9%
Michelle Bachmann 5%
Carly Fiorina 3%
Christine Todd Whitman 3%
Ron Paul 1%

General Election Matchups-National-Rasmussen

Barack Obama 48%
John Ashcroft 43%

Condolezza Rice 48%
Barack Obama 46%

Barack Obama 50%
Newt Gingrich 44%

Barack Obama 49%
Michelle Bachmann 35%

Barack Obama 48%
Carly Fiorina 44%

Barack Obama 51%
Rick Santorum 35%

Christine Todd Whitman 49%
Barack Obama 45%

Barack Obama 53%
Ron Paul 33%

[NewYorkExpress]

While the Presidential race quickly heated up, many political observers, especially in Texas, saw their eyes turn to the special election that would fill the Senate seat of Kay Bailey Hutchison, who had resigned after she had been elected Governor. Texas Democrats, building off the National Party's success in Senate races elsewhere, set a goal of capturing the Senate seat.

The Special Election was set for January 25, 2011, and would be a sprint to the finish. Democrats nominated former Representative Martin Frost, while Republicans nominated former Representative Dick Armey. Both Frost and Armey won plaudits from pundits across Texas for their pledge not to run for a full term in 2012. However, Democrats, dreams of winning Texas, despite having won the Senate race in Louisiana just two months earlier, were dashed.

Texas Senate-Special Election

Dick Armey (R) 52%
Martin Frost (D) 48%

Meanwhile, the Republican field in the Presidential race increased to nine on January 18, as former Senator Bill Frist announced his campaign. Later that day, Fiorina, who had seen her fundraising collapse (since the debate on January 10 she had raised just $1.07) since the debate on January 10, where she'd come off poorly defending her record at Hewlett-Packard, and had looked horrible ducking a question about whether Republican Primary voters would vote for an Obama Cabinet member, suspended her campaign, and endorsed Condolezza Rice. Early the next morning, former candidate Frank Keating endorsed Frist stating that "he can beat Obama".

On January 21, the Republicans gathered for the second Presidential Primary debate, this time at Gulf Coast State College in Panama City, Florida. The debate, which was moderated by Keith  Olbermann, Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews, and was to air on NBC and MSNBC garnered surprisingly good ratings compared to the previous one (of course it helped that the debate was on two networks).

Once again, the fireworks started right away, as Ron Paul called of the other candidates "warmongers" in response to a question from Maddow about what the best way to rebuild Iraq was.

Santorum again got into hot water when, asked by Chris Matthews how he would deal with Iran as President, he responded "nuke Tehran" causing a rebuke from Condolezza Rice, and a live Twitter rebuke from President Obama (which Maddow read out as the next question to every candidate but Santorum, all of whom said they agreed with President's tongue-lashing of Santorum. Ron Paul went further and said the United States shouldn't even have nuclear weapons.)

Keith Olbermann got a round of boos when he asked John Ashcroft why the Bush Justice Department hadn't done more to prosecute the use of performance enhancing drugs in professional sports. Ashcroft's response, that President Bush and Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge had him focusing almost exclusively on terrorism was better received by the audience.

Rice, and Ashcroft when asked by Maddow if the war Iraq was justified gave widely different answers. Rice gave an unqualified yes, while Ashcroft admitted that had he still been in the Senate and the Authorization of Military Force in Iraq had come to the floor, he would have voted against it,as he hadn't believed a word President Bush or Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld had been saying in cabinet meetings on the subject. Rice, Frist, Gingrich, Whitman and Santorum all accused Ashcroft of lying for political gain, leading to a two minute back-and-forth argument before the moderators regained control.

The final question went to Bachmann, and was from Olbermann. He asked about her husband's  business running conversion therapy. Bachmann's indignant response "My husband's business practices are completely legal in Minnesota, and they are not the business of anyone else on this stage, or anyone else for that matter", drew applause from Santorum, Ashcroft, Gingrich and Frist, as well as several people in the audience.