Okay, Americans, there are primary elections in seven states tomorrow. If you’re a resident of Alabama, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico or South Dakota, then you are morally obliged to vote tomorrow. No two ways about it. This is the biggest midterm primary day this year; no other day sees so many elections.
Primaries aren’t the most exciting ones, in many cases. Hell, in my case, it’s barely exciting at all. As a registered Democrat, I can’t cross party lines, and the Senate and House candidates I get to vote for are unopposed incumbents. Regardless, there are a couple local elections I’m going to vote in.
If you’re not sure about any of the candidates available to you, then find out about them. If you’re reading this, then you obviously have access to the web, which has been known to offer up a little information on politicians from time to time. If you’re not registered, well, dammit, get yourself registered! You have no excuse for missing the November elections (unless you plan to vote for people I don’t approve of, in which case you should stay home. )
Here’s a decent article about tomorrow’s primary and about some of the more interesting races that will be decided tomorrow. Yours might be included; take a look:
Here’s a list of all state primary dates, though North Carolina has been pushed back because of redistricting and Kansas, Michigan and New York might suffer the same fate. September 10 actually is a bigger primary date, with Arizona, Connecticut [the first time I get to vote!], District of Columbia, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin holding primaries then. Still, it’s a big day. Also, because of redistricting, lots of legislative races have incumbent vs incumbent primaries so people should check out with their local LWV if that’s happening. There are some entirely new districts too. The WP recently ran an article on how business is starting to focus more on primaries because this round of redistricting created few competitive seats in the fall and primaries will be what determines who represents the seat for ten years or so. So make sure you show up tomorrow, informed about who you’re voting for.
Hell, for some of us the primaries matter less than local issue voting.
We have an ordinance up that will ban smoking in all public locations except for hotel rooms and private homes. (OK, you can smoke outside, but not within a “reasonable distance” outside a public place.)
It’ll pass, then it will go to the courts.
Heck, this is MONTANA! We can still legally drive down the highway at 80 mph with a beer in the lap.
**Schnitte—**Like socialxray says, our presidential primaries aren’t scheduled until early-to-mid-2004. Anyone seriously thinking about running for president in 2004 wouldn’t dare say so until after this November’s midterm elections (well, anyone who isn’t Bush II, anyway.)
In America, we vote for our Representatives (all 435 of them) every two years. Every two years we vote for one third of our 100 Senators, since they operate on six-year terms. Most states’ governors are chosen at the midterm point between presidential elections. (Some states elect their governors the same year as the presidential elections, while some elect them on the odd-numbered years. Two states, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, only allow two-year terms for governors, so they vote for governor every even-numbered year.)
Every election, from the president on down to the most minor municipal office, is preceded by primaries, which is when parties determine who their candidates are going to be. This midterm election is particularly important, since it determines the makeup of the U.S. Congress, which will determine just how free a hand President Bush will have for the last two years of his term. Those who remember the “Republican Revolution” of 1994 will remember just how difficult it can be for a president when both houses of Congress are controlled by the opposing party. Some people argue that the 2002 midterms will determine the 2004 presidential election. Maybe so. I bet it’ll influence it considerably, no matter what happens.
Actually, it’s Vermont and New Hampshire that elect governors to two year terms. New Jersey and Virginia elect their govenors in years following presidential elections, while Louisiana, Mississippi and Kentucky do them in the years preceding them. Delaware, North Dakota, West Virginia, Washington, Missouri and Montana elect them in presidential years. Results are starting to come in in Jersey, others to follow, I think I’m gonna be up all night.
I would like to be the lone dissenting voice by saying that I’m pissed there are seven primaries today. Why you ask?
Because, I work for a publication that provides daily coverage of Congress, including congressional primary races. So, instead of leaving at 11 like I normally do (I do design/layout work), I’ll be leaving at 1 a.m. instead. :mad: If I were doing reporting, my ultimate goal, I wouldn’t mind so much. But for most of tonight, I’m getting paid to wait.
Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with the primary system and voting and all that. But couldn’t we have these things on a weekend?
AHHHHHHHHHH
I just posted a comprehensive tally of the night’s events but the SDMB logged me out so now I have to do it over
NJ:
GOP Senate primary: Millionaire businessman Doug Forrester won, setting up a general with Sen. Bob “Torch” Toricelli
GOP 5th District primary: Ultraconservative Scott Garrett won, which means the moderate Republican seat could swing to the Dems for the first time in decades
AL:
GOP Governor primary: Rep. Bob Riley looks really strong, crushing a sitting Lt. Gov in the primary and beating embattled Gov. Don Siegelman in most polls
GOP 1st District primary: The chief-of-staff to the sitting rep and the CoS to Sen. Shelby placed 1st and 2nd with neither getting 50 percent, so they’ll face off in a runoff
Dem 7th District primary: Young upstart US Attorney Artur Davis could upset Rep. Earl Hilliard in the primary and at least force him into a runoff
IA:
GOP Gov: A CoS to the last GOP Gov is leading the primary and should win, but the sitting Dem Gov is looking strong
GOP Senate primary: Moderate Rep Greg Ganske (I went out with an intern at his office once) beat conservative farmer Bill Salier to face Sen. Tom Harkin, who’s looking stronger than he has in past years
GOP 5th District: Ultraconservative State Sen. Steve King looks like he’ll win, and this district is so Republican there’s no way he’ll lose. Hopefully we can boot him out with redistricting in 10 years
NM:
GOP Gov: State Rep John Sanchez will face former Energy Secretary Bill Richardson in the general election after beating Lt. Gov Walter Bradley, setting up an all-Hispanic general
Dem/GOP 2nd District: The more conservative of two Dems is leading while 3 GOP candidates are jockeying for first with no clear advantage
SD:
Gov: A Casper Milquetoast GOPer came out of nowhere to win his primary, defeating a millionaire and Attorney General, and he’ll face the head of the University of South Dakota in the general
House At-Large: The sitting governor, Bill Janklow, will probably cream the fresh faced lawyer Dems nominated to face him.
AL:
Dem. U.S. Senate Primary, will go to a June 25 runoff between state auditor Susan Parker and attorney Julian McPhillips. The winner will face incumbent Sen. Jeff Sessions ® in the general
Dem. U.S. House, District 1: runoff June 25 between Judy Belk and J. Don Foster
U.S. House District 3: Joe Turnham (D) and Mike Rogers ® win more than 50% in their primaries and go on to the general to succeed outgoing Rep. Bob Riley ®. This race is considered a toss-up.
Rep. U.S. House District 5: Conservative activist Stephen Engel ® wins primary and will face Rep. Bud Cramer (D) in the general
IA:
Dem. U.S. House District 1: Bettendorf mayor and party switcher Ann Hutchinson (D) beat former Rep. Dave Nagle (D) and faces Rep. Jim Nussle ® in the general
MT:
Rep. U.S. House at-large: State Sen. Mike Taylor ® wins primary and faces incumbent Sen. Max Baucus in the general.
SD:
U.S. House at-large: outgoing Gov. Bill Janklow ® will face Stephanie Herseth (D), whose grandfather also served as Gov.
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