TheDemocratic Party picked up the governorship in Virginia asTerry McAuliffewas elected to replaceterm-limited RepublicanBob McDonnell. Meanwhile, Republican New Jersey GovernorChris Christiewas re-elected to a second term. Congressional special elections were held throughout the year. In total, two Senate seats and six House seats were contested. None of the House seats changed party hands, as well as the Massachusetts Senate seat. Democrats, however, regained the Senate seat in New Jersey, which was held by a Republican appointee.
The election results were seen as a slight success for PresidentBarack Obama and the Democrats. It is rare for the President's party to win a Virginia gubernatorial electionsince 1973, and Democrats lost no ground instate legislatures andCongress.
DemocraticCongressmanEd Markey declared his candidacy on December 27, 2012,[7] and was the favorite of the Democratic establishment, receiving endorsements from Kerry,Victoria Kennedy (the widow of former senatorTed Kennedy) and theDemocratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.[8] U.S. RepresentativeStephen Lynch also sought the Democratic nomination.[9] Former U.S. SenatorScott Brown was considered the overwhelming Republican favorite, but announced on February 1, 2013, that he would not run in the special election.[10] Kerry was re-elected in 2008 with 66 percent of the vote.[11]
Markey easily defeated Gomez on June 25, 2013, capturing over 625,000 votes of approximately 1.2 million cast, garnering approximately 55 percent to Gomez's 45 percent and less than 1 percent for Richard Heos, nominee of the Twelve Vision's Party.[13]
89-year-old senator Frank Lautenberg, who had already announced retirement plans[14] died on June 3, 2013.[15] On June 4, 2013,New Jersey GovernorChris Christie set the dates for the special election with the primaries being held on August 13, 2013, and the general election being held on October 16, 2013.[16] On June 6, 2013, Christie announced the appointment ofNew Jersey Attorney GeneralJeffrey Chiesa, a Republican, to serve as the interim senator until the winner of the special could be sworn in.[17] Chiesa announced he would not run in the special election and was sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden on June 10, 2013.[18]
The election on October 16, 2013, was won by Cory Booker with 54.6% of the vote, against 44.3% for Steve Lonegan.[25] This senate election was a technical net gain for Democrats since Booker was replacing an appointed Republican. However, the gain was not enough to hold back the Republicanwave which swept control of the senate just one year later.
This off-year election cycle featured special elections to the113th United States Congress to fill vacancies due to resignations. Six special elections have taken place to fill seats in theUnited States House of Representatives. Two were due to Congressmen taking seats in the United States Senate (Tim Scott of South Carolina and Ed Markey of Massachusetts), one resigned to take jobs in the private sector (Jo Ann Emerson of Missouri), one resigned to take a job in the public sector (Jo Bonner of Alabama), and Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned due to an impending federal indictment of misuse of campaign funds.
Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned on November 21, 2012, following a months-long battle with bipolar disorder and due to being subject to a federal investigation over the possible misuse of campaign funds.[26] Democratic nomineeRobin Kelly defeated Republican nominee Paul McKinley on April 9, 2013, taking 71 percent of about 82,000 votes cast.[27]
IncumbentJo Ann Emerson resigned January 22, 2013,[30] to become the CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association in March 2013.[31] RepublicanMissouri state representativeJason Smith beat Democratic state representative John Hodges on June 4, 2013.[32]
Incumbent Democrat Ed Markey resigned on July 15, 2013 when elected U.S. senator. Democratic state senatorKatherine Clark beat Republican lawyer Frank Addivinola on December 10, 2013.[33]
On May 23, 2013, Republican IncumbentJo Bonner resigned August 15, 2013 to become the vice chancellor of government relations and economic development with theUniversity of Alabama System,[34][35] Republican former state senatorBradley Byrne beat Democratic real estate agent Burton LeFlore on December 17 by a wide margin.[36]
On November 16, 2013, businessman Vance McAllister defeated fellow Republicanstate senatorNeil Riser defeated Republican Riser in the November 16 run-off with 60 percent of the vote.[38] and was sworn in by Boehner on November 21, 2013.
New Jersey: RepublicanChris Christie ran for a second term and was challenged for the GOP nomination by Seth Grossman, a Republican lawyer and former Atlantic City Councilman.[39] The declared Democratic candidates were State SenatorBarbara Buono and Troy Webster. On June 4, 2013, Christie defeated Grossman to secure the GOP nomination with 92 percent of the vote[40] and Buono defeated Webster for the Democratic nomination with 88 percent of the vote.[40] Christie then won re-election on November 5[41]
Several states had referendums on propositions and/or state constitutional amendments on the ballot in November 2013, including a non-binding vote to create a new state inNorthern Colorado, tax and marijuana issues in Colorado, an initiative to require labeling ofgenetically modified food in the state of Washington, and an amendment to raise theminimum wage in New Jersey.[44]
New Yorkers voted to amend its constitution in several minor ways, but voted against raising the retirement age for judges.
Some of the large cities holding mayoral elections included:[45]
Albany, NY: Incumbent Democratic mayorGerald Jennings declined to run for a sixth term. City TreasurerKathy Sheehan easily won both the Democratic primary and the general election[46]
Rochester, NY: Incumbent mayorThomas Richards was defeated in the Democratic primary in his bid for a full term byLovely A. Warren. Richards was on the ballot on the Independence Party and Working Families Party lines, but endorsed Warren,[60] who defeated him in the general election, becoming the city's first female mayor[61]
San Diego, California: A special election was held on November 19 following the resignation ofBob Filner on August 30, 2013.Kevin Faulconer andDavid Alvarez received the first and second most votes respectively. Because neither candidate received a majority of the vote, a runoff election was scheduled for February 2014[63]
^The vacancy resulted from the death of Democratic SenatorFrank Lautenberg on June 3, 2013. RepublicanJeffrey Chiesa was appointed on June 4 to serve as interim senator until the winner of the October 16 special election was sworn in.
