|
|
 |
 | ...Washington, DC, USA. In most American states, the job of secretary of state has long been seen as a largely non-partisan post, invested for the most part with administrative and caretaker duties.
A new crop of activists is working hard to change that.
As Kris Kobach and Scott Gessler prepare to take office as secretary of state for Kansas and Colorado, respectively, their elections are putting to rest any lingering notions that the job of secretary of state is a quiet, low-key, technocratic po... |
01-04-11
Word count: 1729
|
|
| |
 | ...Washington, DC, USA. A lower Latino vote would signal trouble for the Democratic Party in November. So far, there are few signs of the confidence and hope that prevailed at the polls in the high-turnout year of 2008.
The hot phrase for analysts of the 2010 midterm elections is “enthusiasm gap” — the level of eagerness to participate that one segment of voters has compared to another. Across the board this year, polls show that Republicans are more energized than Democrats are.
But few gr... |
10-17-10
Word count: 1917
|
|
| |
 | ...Washington, DC, VA, USA. This would seem an ideal time for candidates from outside the two-party system to run for governor.
And a few of them are attracting some legitimate attention.
In this volatile election year, third-party and independent candidates are making serious bids for governor in a diverse array of states. Most of them won’t get many votes, but a fair number stand to influence the results and it’s possible that at least one may make it into office.
In Rhode Island alone, ... |
09-27-10
Word count: 1580
|
|
| |
 | ...
San Quentin, CA, USA. California’s next attorney general will have a full plate.
He or she will have to deal with a federal court challenge on prison overcrowding, a continuing battle over gay marriage, how to proceed if a marijuana-legalization ballot measure passes, and whether to follow other states in cracking down on illegal immigration and implementing, or challenging, the newly passed health care bill.
And all of this is in addition to the ordinary workload of judicial appeals, gene... |
09-09-10
Word count: 1316
|
|
| |
 | ...
St. Paul, MN, USA. The last time a Democratic presidential candidate lost Minnesota was during the 1972 Nixon landslide.
Yet despite this uninterrupted tide of blue on electoral-college maps, it’s been 24 years since a Democrat has won Minnesota’s governorship.
Now the party has a golden opportunity. Two-term Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty is leaving office to mount an expected presidential bid, leaving the governorship up for grabs this fall.
However, with Democrats nationally faci... |
08-03-10
Word count: 1659
|
|
| |
 | ...
Sacramento, CA, USA. Could voters in the nation’s biggest state fundamentally change the way their executive, legislative and congressional delegations are chosen?
If the polls are to be believed, California voters will do precisely that when they take up a measure on the June 8 primary ballot that would restructure the state’s primary system.
While issues of election procedure typically rank low on voters’ agendas, the unprecedentedly sour mood about California government may bolster... |
04-22-10
Word count: 1637
|
|
| |
 | ...Washington, DC, USA. Amid budgetary turmoil and a severe recession, 38 states will hold gubernatorial elections in 2009 and 2010. The early line suggests change — and Republican gains.
After winning the White House, taking control of Congress and securing majorities of the governorships and the state legislatures over the past two years, the Democrats are on a roll. But will their luck run out in the 2010 gubernatorial elections?
Two governorships will be up in 2009, followed... |
02-04-09
Word count: 1015
|
|
| |
| ...California, PA, USA. If anyone still has doubts about how helpful the youth vote was to electing Democrat Barack Obama president, they need to look no further than this college town about an hour south of Pittsburgh.
In a normal election year, the two precincts serving the bulk of students at California University of Pennsylvania (CALU) attract a total of about 400 voters, according to election watchers here. But on Election Day 2008, that number more than quadrupled to a combined tota... |
11-21-08
Word count: 1372
|
|
| |
 | ...Washington, DC, USA. Even though Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama could have long coattails in congressional races on Nov. 4, his party has more limited opportunities for takeovers further down the ballot, including gubernatorial, legislative and attorney general contests.
According to most analysts, Obama is on the verge of reshaping the red-blue electoral map, likely seizing between eight and 12 states won by President Bush in 2004. The Democrats may take as many as nine additiona... |
10-31-08
Word count: 1067
|
|
| |
 | ...
Washington, DC, USA. The nation’s worsening economic picture and Democrat Barack Obama’s widening lead in the presidential race appear to be boosting the prospects for Democrats to expand their lead in the state legislatures.
Democrats today hold a 27-20 lead in control of state Senates and a 30-19 lead in state Houses. Two state Senates are tied.
With days until Election Day, “Out There” rates 25 chambers as in play – about 30 percent of the 84 legis... |
10-24-08
Word count: 1198
|
|
| |
 | ...
Washington, DC, USA. After two months of zigs and zags in the presidential race — highlighted by the party conventions, the selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as GOP vice presidential nominee and the financial wipeout on Wall Street — Sen. Barack Obama is closing in on victory, not just in the national polls but also on the map of state battlegrounds.
The last time “Out There” rated the “purple states” — that is, those neither safely Democratic nor Republican — wa... |
10-22-08
Word count: 1347
|
|
| |
 | ...
Washington, DC, USA. Gubernatorial contests look tighter now than at any previous point in the 2008 election cycle.
A shift to the GOP predates the bump presidential nominee John McCain got after tapping Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for the second slot, though her selection didn’t hurt.
As goes the presidential race, so goes the battle for governorships — at least in a number of the key contests this year.
The selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for the second s... |
09-20-08
Word count: 1700
|
|
| |
 | ...
St. Paul, MN, USA. Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) narrowly missed getting a spot on the Republican presidential ticket. If Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was the ultimate outside-the-box vice presidential pick for John McCain’s GOP ticket, the governor of this state — Republican Tim Pawlenty — would have been the quintessential inside-the-box choice.
Pawlenty, long considered a leading candidate for the VP slot, is a conservative who has managed to win solid approval ratings in a state th... |
09-04-08
Word count: 1427
|
|
| |
 | ...
Washington, DC, USA. For the first time in more than a decade, the list of battleground states in the presidential election is expanding, and Barack Obama’s campaign war chest is one reason why.
Meanwhile, the list of toss-up states continues to grow.
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has long promised to bring the presidential campaign against Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to states that have been Republican bastions — not just to places like Virginia, Nevada and Colorad... |
08-14-08
Word count: 1448
|
|
| |
 | ...
Washington, DC, USA. Midway through their first terms, the governors of the class of 2006 are short one member and have accumulated lots of battle scars. But most are avoiding the voter discontent directed at Congress and the presidency.
Almost a year ago, Out There examined the records of new governors and found that most survived their first legislative sessions with flying colors. Now, midway through their terms, the class of 2006 has lost one member and accumulated lots of b... |
07-25-08
Word count: 2203
|
|
| |
| ...
Washington, DC, USA. At a time when the presidential candidates are feverishly trying to flip red and blue states, a group of governors is finding that switching a state’s partisan leaning is no easy matter.
How hard is it to change the political complexion of a state? Not even a strong legislative record and high popularity may be enough for four Republican governors in predominantly Democratic states and four Democratic governors in heavily Republican states.
Two ... |
07-10-08
Word count: 1612
|
|
| |
| ...
Washington, DC, USA. Finally, the last primary votes have been cast, and Barack Obama and John McCain are jousting with each other.
Obama has double-digit leads in two national polls, but the election poises for decision in a half-dozen toss-up states.
So much has happened in the presidential race over the past three months that voters can be forgiven if they feel dazed. But despite all the political and media frenzy — and despite Democrat Barack Obama’s double-dig... |
06-27-08
Word count: 1931
|
|
| |
 | ...Charleston, SC, USA. High turnout among African-Americans and younger voters supporting U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) could reshape the Southern political landscape this fall. But with a few exceptions, Democrats may find gains in statewide contests thwarted by bad timing and a potential conservative backlash.
Democratic and Republican strategists agree that African Americans and young voters of all backgrounds in the South stand ready to come out in droves in November to back O... |
06-10-08
Word count: 1570
|
|
| |
| ...Washington, DC, USA. After a pair of hard-fought primaries, North Carolina joins Missouri, Washington and Indiana on the Out There list of states where partisan control of the governorship could flip this fall.
Since January, the last time Out There assessed the 11 governorships up in 2008, the contests are swinging to extremes — either getting hotter than ever, or snoozier.
The likelihood of a switch in partisan control of the top spot has grown in at least three states —... |
05-08-08
Word count: 1481
|
|
| |
| ...Washington, DC, USA. With a sagging economy and a divisive war occupying Americans’ minds, will social issues be overshadowed in campaign 2008? Quite possibly — but it would be foolhardy to write them off.
National polls — and more than 50 state and national experts contacted for this column — broadly agree that Americans’ deepening concerns about the economy are currently overshadowing the kinds of polarizing social issues, such as abortion and gay marriage, that have h... |
05-01-08
Word count: 1267
|
|
| Page 1 | 2 | Next |
The TS-Si News Service
and the TS-Si Research Service are collaborations of TS-Si officials, staff, contributors, and corresponding institutions. The contents do not necessarily convey official positions of TS-Si or its owners, participants, partners, or affiliates.