Statewide elections, 2010
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Gubernatorial elections
- See also:Gubernatorial elections, 2010
37 gubernatorial elections were scheduled forNovember 2, 2010. Of the 37 seats up for election,Democrats defended 19 versus 18 held by aRepublican going into the election. In the wake of the polls, the balance of power stands at 29 Republican seats, 19 Democratic seats, one Independent seat, and one undecided election.
Ballotpedia has prepared alist of the winners along with key statistics about winning margins and voter turnout.
36 governorships were already up for election due to election cycles. When Utah's incumbent governor left to accept an ambassadorial position, his state called a special election, bringing the total number of contests to 37, the most states that have ever elected a governor at once in U.S. history.
Combined with the fact that the partisan balance of power in the nation's legislatures and gubernatorial offices had tremendous influence on the redrawing of Congressional districts in 2011, the power at stake in 2010 brought unprecedented attention to the gubernatorial elections.
2010 also became America's most expensive gubernatorial cycle ever, with previous records for entire campaigns being smashed before primaries were even over andCalifornia'sMeg Whitman setting new records for individual expenditures in a campaign.
Key race-trackers expected Republicans to pick up several seats, with final calls pegging the GOP to pick up anywhere from five to 12 seats.[1][2][3] In the end, Republicans won 11 seats and Democrats flipped six. Additionally,Rhode Island elected an Independent.
In 15 of the seats up for election, the incumbent could not run again because ofterm limits, leaving 22 seats guaranteed to be open to non-incumbents. Of the incumbent butlimited-out governors, eight were Democratic and seven were Republican. When incumbents did choose to run, the primaries were good to them. Only inNevada did an incumbent seeing re-election lose his own party's primary. (One of the term-limited governors,Dave Freudenthal inWyoming, at one point indicated he planned to challenge his state's term limits law; while he did win his legal battle to have the state's term limits invalidated, he eventually declined to run for a third term.)
- Democratic governors who were limited-out included:
John Baldacci (Maine)
Jennifer Granholm (Michigan)
Bill Richardson (New Mexico)
Brad Henry (Oklahoma)
Ted Kulongoski (Oregon)
Ed Rendell (Pennsylvania)
Phil Bredesen (Tennessee)
Dave Freudenthal (Wyoming)
In those races, Democrats held ontoOregon with the Republicans picked up the other seven.
- Republican governors who were limited-out included:
Bob Riley (Alabama)
Arnold Schwarzenegger (California)
Sonny Perdue (Georgia)
Linda Lingle (Hawaii)
Donald Carcieri (Rhode Island)
Mark Sanford (South Carolina)
Mike Rounds (South Dakota)
Republicans lostCalifornia andHawaii to the Democrats andRhode Island elected an Independent, holding onto the remaining four.
Some incumbent governors who weren'tlimited-out still chose not to try for re-election.
- Democratic governors who voluntarily chose not to run for re-election wereBill Ritter (Colorado),Mark Parkinson (Kansas), andJim Doyle (Wisconsin).Colorado remained Democratic while Republicans took the other two.
- Republican governors who could have run again, but did not, wereJodi Rell (Connecticut),Charlie Crist (Florida),Tim Pawlenty (Minnesota) andJim Douglas (Vermont). Democrats made three pick-ups here, inConnecticut,Vermont, andMinnesota whileFlorida remained in GOP hands.
Lt. Governor campaigns
- See also:Lieutenant Governor elections, 2010
Lieutenant Gubernatorial campaigns, which are often tied to the candidate for governor in the general election, hewed to the same party line as the top line races with the exception ofArkansas, where RepublicanMark Darr won along with DemocratMike Beebe, andRhode Island, where DemocratElizabeth H. Roberts will serve along side IndependentLincoln Chafee, making for a split ticket in those states.
Incumbents were re-elected inGeorgia,Idaho,Maryland,Massachusetts,Nebraska,Nevada,Texas, andUtah, a set that includes six Republican and two Democratic seats, with Maryland and Massachusetts in the minority.
Sitting lieutenant governors won the governorship in three cases:Oklahoma,South Dakota, andVermont. In another 5 states, the lieutenant governor ran for governor but lost.
Going into the elections, Republicans controlled 25 lieutenant governorships compared to 18 for Democrats. Additionally, two seats, inIllinois andWest Virginia, were vacant. Another five states do not have the office of the lieutenant governor. In those five states, Democrats held the office first to succeed the governor in three cases.
Republicans triumphed in 21 lieutenant gubernatorial elections with only nine going to the Democrats.Minnesota is still in recount, so the final numbers will change. While the GOP flipped a total of nine seats, Democrats only took Republican-held offices inCalifornia,Connecticut, andHawaii.
Assuming that Minnesota's race ultimately goes to the Democrats, as recount results to date indicate, the balance of power for the two parties in lieutenant governorships of first-succession offices in states that lack the office will be 35-15 in favor of Republicans.
Secretary of State
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- See also:Secretary of State elections, 2010
Twenty-six secretary of state elections were scheduled for Tuesday,November 2nd, 2010. Of the 26 seats up for election,14 had been held byDemocrats and12 byRepublicans.
Background
In four of the seats that were up for election, the incumbent could not run again because ofterm limits. Of the incumbent butlimited-out secretaries of state,1 wasDemocratic and3 wereRepublican.
- TheDemocratic Secretary of State who was limited-out wasCharlie Daniels (Arkansas)
- TheRepublican Secretaries of StateTodd Rokita (Indiana),Terri Lynn Land (Michigan), andChris Nelson (South Dakota) were term limited-out
Several incumbent secretaries of state chose not to run for re-election, in most cases because they ran for a different office. In mid-November 2009, it was estimated that5 incumbent secretaries of state who could run again (three Democrats and two Republicans) voluntarily choose not to seek re-election. Three months later, however, only the three Democrats remained on the list as both of the Republicans (Karen Handel ofGeorgia andRon Thornburgh ofKansas) resigned from office resulting in the governor from each of the respective states having to appoint a replacement; both appointees in these instances were already candidates seeking the statewide office in November.
- Democratic Secretaries of State who voluntarily choose not to run for re-election wereSusan Bysiewicz (Connecticut),Jennifer Brunner (Ohio) andDeborah L. Markowitz (Vermont). Bysiewicz, who over the course of two years switched campaigns from the gubernatorial race to the state attorney general contest, had decided to seek neither higher office nor re-election to her current position, Markowtiz is seeking to becomegovernor and Brunner was in the hunt for her party's nomination forUnited States Senate, though she ultimately lost to theLieutenant GovernorLee Fisher.
Results
After all the votes had been tabulated, there was a rather dramatic shift in the balance of partisan control over the secretary of state offices. Of the26 statewide position that were on the ballot,17 had been won byRepublicans while only9 were garnered by theDemocrats. Even more significant, however, was the fact that6 of those offices won byRepublicans had previously been held byDemocrats; these statewide positions includedArkansas,Colorado,Iowa,Kansas,New Mexico, andOhio. Overall, the once slightly comfortable majorityDemocrats had held among Secretary of State offices evaporated overnight.
Attorney General
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Thirty attorney general elections were scheduled forNovember 2, 2010. Of the 30 seats that were up for election,20 had been held by aDemocrat and10 by aRepublican.
Background
In three of the seats that were up for election, the incumbent could not run again because ofterm limits. Of the three incumbent butlimited-out attorneys general, two were Democrats and one wasRepublican:
- TheDemocratic Attorneys General ofArizona (Terry Goddard) andRhode Island (Patrick Lynch) were term-limited out.
- TheRepublican Attorney General ofMichigan who was limited-out wasMike Cox.
Several incumbent attorneys general chose not to run for re-election, in most cases because they ran for a different office. As of mid-April 2010, it is known that seven incumbent attorneys general who could run again (five areDemocrats and two areRepublicans) are voluntarily choosing not to seek re-election.
- Democratic attorneys general who are voluntarily choosing not to run for re-election areJerry Brown (California),Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut),Thurbert E. Baker (Georgia), andDrew Edmondson (Oklahoma). Of these five, Goddard, Brown, Baker, and Edmondson have sought each of their respective state's governorships; both Baker and Edmondson failed to receive their party's nomination in the primary while Brown and Goddard have successfully moved on to the general election in November. Blumenthal, on the other hand, was in the hunt for theUnited States Senate seat held by outgoingDemocratic Senator Chris Dodd; he ultimately succeeded in November.
- Republican attorneys general who could run again, but have said they will not, areBill McCollum (Florida) andHenry McMaster (South Carolina), both of whom had sought each of their respective state's governorships. McMaster ultimately lost the party nomination to State RepresentativeNikki Haley.
Results
After all the votes had been tabulated, there was a significant shift in the balance of partisan control over the state attorney general offices. Of the30 statewide positions on the ballot,14 had been won byDemocrats whileRepublicans seized control in16 of those races. More significant, however, was the fact that5 of these offices won byRepublicans had previously been held byDemocrats; these statewide positions includedArizona,Georgia,Kansas,Ohio, andOklahoma. Altogether, whileDemocrats were able to maintain a slim majority control of the state attorney general offices, thanks largely to wins in bothCalifornia andIowa, the balance of power among the two major political parties, however, is now close to about split straight down the middle.
Judicial elections
State legislatures
88 state legislative chamber elections were scheduled forNovember 2, 2010. Of the 88 chambers up for election, 52 were held by Democrats and 33 by Republicans. There were also 2 chambers that were equally split and one (Nebraska) which was officially nonpartisan.
1,167 (59.2%) of the country's 1,971 state senate seats were up for re-election in November, and 4,958 (90.7%) of the country's 5,462 state house seats were up for re-election. Altogether, 6,125 of the country's 7,384 (82.9%) state legislative seats were up for re-election in this election year.
The 11 chamberswithout elections in 2010 (except for an occasionalspecial election), were theupper houses andlower houses inLouisiana,Mississippi,New Jersey andVirginia, and theupper house (state senate) inKansas,New Mexico andSouth Carolina.
In the 43 state senate elections, 14 states were impacted byterm limits. There were 122state senators who were ineligible to run in November because of term limits. Of the 122 ineligible incumbents, 55 were Democrats and 66 were Republicans (and 1 nonpartisan senator).
Ballot measures
- See also:2010 ballot measures
| 2010 ballot measures |
| Tuesday Count •2010 Scorecard |
| Analysis •Issues on ballot |
184 ballot questions werecertified for spots on38 statewide ballots in 2010.[4]
Specifically, for theNovember 2, 2010 general election ballot160 ballot questions were certified in 37 states.[5] The 184 measures on the 2010 ballot amounted to about 80% of the average of 220 ballot questions that have been on statewide ballots in the even-numbered years from 1990-2008.
5 political topics dominated the 2010 ballot, and 3 of the 5 most popular topics each related to fiscal policy. The "Big 5" topics on the 2010 ballot weretaxes,administration of government,elections and campaigns,bond issues andstate budgets. The number of 2010 ballot measures relating to fiscal topics were an increase of about 13% over the number of similar measures on the2008 ballot.
The 2010 ballot included fewer social issues (such asabortion,marriage,immigration,gambling) than had been the case in most recent years, although one of the most widely-remarked measures on the ballot,California's Proposition 19, is a classic in the genre.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑Cook Political Report, "2010 Governor's Race Ratings," August 12, 2010
- ↑CQ Politics, "Race Rating Chart: Governor," accessed August 12, 2010
- ↑Rothenberg Political Report, "Governor's Ratings," accessed August 12, 2010
- ↑Approaching the November 2 general elections, only two post-certification lawsuits remained pending - (SQ 746 andSQ 751). In some states pending court rulings do not necessarily remove measures from the ballot but instead prevent cast votes from being counted.
- ↑The District of Columbia also had a ballot measure on its November 2 ballot -Washington, D.C. Attorney General Selection (2010). On Ballotpedia, the DC ballot measure isgrouped in with local, city-wide ballot measures from cities such as Los Angeles, Houston or Detroit.
