The Voter’s Speakeasy

Follow Up on the Results of the 2009 General Election:

The New Jersey State Assembly will hardly change in composition as a result of the election (see our winner’s list). Incumbents ran for re-election in 72 of the 80 seats up for election, winning all of these races. Of the eight open seats, seven were won by a member of the same political party as the incumbent. In District 4, unofficial election results seem to indicate that Republican Dominick DiCicco won an open seat formerly held by a Democrat (freshman Assembly Member Sandra Love). As a result, once the newly-elected officials are sworn in, the party composition of the Assembly will change from 48 Democrats-32 Republicans to 47 Democrats-33 Republicans. While the Democrats will still hold a majority in the Assembly, New Jersey will be losing two key Democratic officials: Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts, who withdrew from the 2009 election, and Governor Jon Corzine, who lost his seat to Republican Chris Christie.

The Virginia House of Delegates had more turnover than the New Jersey State Assembly, but incumbents running for reelection were still victorious 89% of the time (see our winner’s list).  Eight of the Democratic incumbents lost their seats to Republican candidate (Districts 3, 21, 23, 32, 34, 51, 67, and 83), while only one of the Republican incumbents lost their seat to a Democrat (District 93). In addition, one Democratic incumbent lost in the primary election, but the seat was ultimately retained by a Democrat. Of the ten open seats, only one switched to a different party than that of the incumbent: District 52 went from Republican (Jeffrey Frederick) to Democrat (Luke Torian). Though some recounts are still pending, as the results stand now, it appears that Republicans will have a net gain of six seats in the House of Delegates, changing the party composition from 53 Republicans-43 Democrats-2 Independents-2 Vacant Democratic Seats to 59 Republicans-39 Democrats-2 Independents.

Virginia statewide elections also went in favor of the Republican party.  The open Gubernatorial seat, currently held by term-limited Democrat Tim Kaine was handily won by Republican Bob McDonnell with nearly 59% of the vote. The seat of Lieutenant Governor was retained by Republican Bill Bolling and the open seat for Attorney General remained Republican, with current State Senator Ken Cuccinelli set to replace Bill Mims.

In total, there were 185 federal and state seats up for regular election on November 3, 82% of which were retained by incumbents (153 total). Of the 164 incumbents running for reelection, 153 (93%) won. Both independent incumbents won reelection, giving them a 100% win percentage. Only 1 of the 78 Republican incumbents did not win reelection (99% win percentage), while 10 of the 84 Democratic incumbents did not win reelection (88% win percentage).

Special Elections

The open seat for Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court swung Republican with the election of Joan Orie Melvin. Previously, Democrats had 4-3 majority on the court; it is now 3-4, in favor of the Republicans.

The Special Election for the U.S. House seat in New York District 23 resulted in Bill Owens (endorsed by the Democratic Party and Working Families Party) winning a seat previously held by Republican John McHugh. U.S. House District 10 in California (previously held by Democrat Ellen Tauscher) will remain Democratic, with the election of current Lieutenant Governor of California, John Garamendi. Before the election, the party composition of the U.S. House was 256 Democrats-177 Republicans-1 Vacant Republican Seat-1 Vacant Democratic Seat; it is now: 258 Democrats-177 Republicans.

Summary of Party-Changing Seats in this Election:

-1 of 1 Republican U.S. House seats went Democratic (special election)
-2 of 2 Democratic Gubernatorial seats went Republican
-the new office of Lieutenant Governor in New Jersey went Republican
-1 of 1 Democratic State Supreme Court Justice went Republican (special election)
-9 of 93 Democratic House/Assembly seats went Republican
-2 of 85 Republican House/Assembly seats went Democratic

-Kristen Vicedomini, Research Director

Unofficial results have been coming in across the country for the November 3rd election.  Here are the winners, state-by-state:

California: Congressional District 10

Maine: Ballot Measures

New Jersey: Governor and State Assembly, Ballot Measures

New York: Congressional District 23, Ballot Measures

Ohio: Ballot Measures

Pennsylvania: Justice of the Supreme Court

Texas: Ballot Measures

Virginia: Governor and State House

Washington: Ballot Measures

The passage of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913 capped a process of reform that had begun nearly a hundred years before, with direct election of Senators–an idea first proposed all the way back in 1826, and which gathered momentum across a century of civil unrest and Congressional scandal–coming into full effect across the United States.  Four years short of the Amendment’s hundredth birthday, the principle of direct election of Senators has become firmly rooted in most Americans’ conception of just government.  However, to this day, seats in the Senate continue to be distributed through appointments– made not by their states’ legislatures, but by their governors.

Appointment of Senators by state governors is provided for in the text of the Seventeenth Amendment.  After mandating that Senators, in all regular circumstances, should be “elected by the people,” its second paragraph states:

“When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.”

Ultimate authority to decide how vacancies should be filled, therefore, remains with the State Legislatures.   Should they choose, they can deny the executive any ability to make interim appointments, leaving the governor’s sole Constitutional responsibility as issuing the order for a special election to be held.   In practice, though, only three states–Oklahoma, Oregon and Wisconsin–completely deny the governor this ability.  The fourth, until this week, was the state of Massachusetts. However, a Massachusetts bill that would allow the governor to choose interim appointees (H 4246) has just been signed into law.  Governor Deval Patrick has subsequently appointed Paul G. Kirk, Jr. to succeed the late Ted Kennedy as Senator.

Massachusetts now joins nine other states that allow for short-term executive appointments prior to a special election, namely Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Vermont and Washington.   Each state differs on the details of how these appointments should be made, and when an election must be held, ranging from sixty to one hundred and sixty days after the vacancy occurs.

The remaining thirty-seven states fill Senate vacancies at their next regularly scheduled general election, with the governor making an interim appointment according to certain regulations.  For instance, some states, including Arizona and Hawaii, have a proviso that the appointee must be of the same political party as the Senator whose death or resignation created the vacancy.  H 4246, the Massachusetts bill, contains a similar provision.   Other states, such as New Jersey and New York, specify that if a vacancy occurs shortly before a regular primary, the election to fill that vacancy is delayed until the next election cycle, and that the governor’s temporary appointee will hold office until then.

The subject of Senate appointments has received much attention in recent months, with several high-profile vacancies provoking a great deal of debate between supporters and opponents of executive appointment. In the last few months, Senators  George LeMieux of Florida, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Ted Kaufman of Delaware, Michael Bennet of Colorado, and Roland Burris of Illinois have respectively replaced retired Senator Mel Martinez, now-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, now-Vice President Joe Biden, now-Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, and now-President Barack Obama in the Senate.   This high concentration of Senatorial appointments during a period of frenetic and frequently controversial legislative activity has resulted in a number of attempts to erode or eliminate the ability of state governors to make appointments.   Most notably, House Joint Resolution 21 and Senate Joint Resolution 7, both introduced at the beginning of this legislative year, would amend the Constitution to require that a special election must be held to fill every Senatorial vacancy.

-Jonathan Bray (University of East Anglia, 2009, American Studies Major, from Polesworth, United Kingdom), Key Votes Intern

We have finished the Testing period for the California District 10, Special Election.  A dismal 21% of candidates were willing to complete the Political Courage Test, telling citizens where they stand on the issues.  We thank the few and the brave.  The candidates were bipartisan in both their participation and refusal.  A Democratic, Green, and Republican candidate completed the Test while numerous candidates from both major parties refused.

-Peter Bultman, Political Courage Test Director

You may have read about the upcoming health insurance debate in Congress, or the recent cap and trade bill, but what you may not know is that the U.S. House recently took time from its busy schedule to introduce H Res 652, in honor of the 150^th anniversary of the great Pig Crisis.

In a dispute forgotten in most history books, the feud between Great Britain and the United States over the U.S.-Canadian border took a dramatic turn in the summer of 1859. On an unassuming June day, a U.S. citizen on San Juan Island shot and killed a pig owned by a member of the Hudson Bay Company. This incident prompted the military on both sides of the border to respond, and it was only through upstanding diplomacy between Lt. General Winfield Scott (for the U.S.) and British Columbia’s Governor James Douglas (for Great Britain) that an international war was diverted. For the next twelve years, British and U.S. soldiers bonded through their posts together at the remote location of San Juan Island until the border issue was officially resolved.

It is because of these great events in history that Rep. Larsen of Washington and 9 other co-sponsors have introduced a resolution to both honor the anniversary of the Pig Crisis and to recognize the close ties and lasting relationships that the U.S. has continued to have with the United Kingdom.

-Robin Parkinson, Key Votes Director