Recap 2009

To sum up quickly, last night’s election outcomes were a mixed bag with a clear edge toward the GOP beginning with New Jersey governor John Corzine (D) losing to Chris Christie (R) in a race embedded in local issues including property taxes. The clear election of Republican Bob McDonnell in Virginia, however, was no surprise as he’d been polling strongly in the final weeks of campaigning.

The night’s one big win—albeit symbolic—for Democrats went to Bill Owens in NY’s 23^rd congressional district, a race in which out-of-state GOP rock stars (e.g. Thompson, Santorum, Armey) had lobbied hard for Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, but ultimately had little effect in swaying local voters. For me, this race was the most telling, as upstate voters: a) elected the first Democrat to represent the 23^rd since the Grant Administration, and; b) apparently didn’t care much what Sarah Palin thought was best for their district – much less the future of Republican Party values.

So suck on that, Sarah Bear.

Personally, the one race last night which disappointed me was the narrow repeal of same-sex marriage laws in Maine. The final outcome was close, but as seen in the link above it’s disturbing to see anti-same sex marriage groups piously crowing the denial of legal marriage to others whose own marital status will have zero impact on their own lives beyond feeling creeped out.