Absentee Votes Counted, Franken Gains

More news from Minnesota. The absentee votes that the three-judge election panel ruled as legal were counted yesterday and Al Franken's lead expanded from 225 votes to 312 votes. At this point, Coleman has virtually no chance of winning the election contest. He is sure to appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court and probably to the U.S. Supreme Court if he loses that one. An interesting question is whether the Minnesota Supreme Court will order the governor and Secretary of State to sign the certificate certifying the election and how they respond to such an order if it happens. Wild scenarios are possible. For another time.

Democrat Quigley Replaces Emanuel in IL-05

As expected, Democrat Mike Quigley decisively defeated Republican Rosanna Pulido and Green Party candidate Matt Reichel for the Chicago-area seat IL-05 vacated by Rahm Emanuel when he became President Obama's Chief of Staff. So this election does not affect the partisan balance in the House.

More Gubernatorial Races

Continuing with the gubernatorial races, let's now examine the Interior West.

Wyoming

Challenger	Challenger	Notes
(D)	(R)	Open seat. Wyoming is the Republican's #1 pickup opportunity as Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D-WY) is term limited and the Democrats have nobody to replace him. Lots of Republicans are champing at the bit and whoever wins the Republican primary will be elected governor.

Colorado

Incumbent	Challenger	Notes
Bill Ritter (D)	(R)	Gov. Bill Ritter (D-CO) will be going for his second term in this increasingly blue state. His choice of Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) to replace Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO) was bizarre at best, especially considering there were plenty of Democratic members of the House eager for the job. Still, you can't beat somebody with nobody and the Republicans don't have any top-tier contenders. Former representative Bob Beauprez (R), who was crushed by Ritter in 2006, could try again. If former representative Tom Tancredo (R) runs, and he might, Ritter would crush him even more badly. Maybe the Republicans can find a rich businessman to run, but the Democrats clearly have the upper hand here.

New Mexico

Challenger	Challenger	Notes
(D)	(R)	Open seat. Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM) is term limited. Lt. Gov Diane Denish (D-NM) is sure to run for the Democratic nomination, but actor Val Kilmer may challenge her. Enough famous and rich celebrities have been elected to public office that she can't just dismiss him. What about the Republicans? Well, Obama carried the state in a landslide, the Democrats control both Senate seats, all three House seats, all statewide offices, and both chambers of the state legislature (by nearly 2 to 1 margins). The Republicans control nothing, so the prospects aren't very good for them here. Probably the only Republican with any chance at all is former representative Heather Wilson (R), who was defeated in the Republican senatorial primary last year and her only real hope is a fight to the death in the Democratic primary that leaves the winner broke and bloodied.

Idaho

Incumbent	Challenger	Notes
Butch Otter (R)	(D)	Gov. Butch Otter (R-ID) will run for re-election and win. There is nothing the Democrats can do to prevent it. End of story.

Nevada

Incumbent	Challenger	Notes
Jim Gibbons (R)	(D)	Nevada has its own Bunning situation: if the incumbent runs, the Republicans will probably lose. They have to get rid of him to save the office. Gov. Jim Gibbons (R-NV) has been up to his ears in scandals since day 1, including a messy divorce in which the state's first lady refused to move out of the governor's mansion. Then there were shady land deals, a bribery investigation, illegal campaign donations, and more. He will certainly be challenged in a primary, possibly by Rep. Dean Heller or former state senator Joe (Give 'em) Heck. The highest-profile Democrat running is Sen. Harry Reid's son, Rory, but the Speaker of the state House, Barbara Buckey, the mayor of Sin City, Oscar Goodman, and a cast of thousands might challenge the younger Reid. Obama won this state easily, so no matter who the candidates are, the Democrats are likely to flip the office.

Arizona

Incumbent	Challenge	Notes
Jan Brewer (R)	(D)	Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ) got her job when term-limited Gov. Janet Napolitano (D-AZ) took a job in the cabinet. Since she wasn't elected, she may be vulnerable to a primary challenge, especially from Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ). The most likely Democratic candidate is Attorney General Terry Goddard. Since the most recent person to be elected governor was a Democrat in an otherwise somewhat Republican state, this race has to be considered a tossup at this point.

If you like this Website, tell your friends. You can also share by clicking this button