Isn't That Special (Elections taking place beyond Georgia)

In case you have been living under a rock, or just have a very different social media cadre than I do there is a special election coming up in Georgia. Actually, one just happened and now there is a runoff. (Even though it was not the runaway we were hoping for BIG congratulations to everyone on the ground for Jon Ossoff! I am hopeful for June 20!) That same evening Jackie Smith won the race for Prince William County, Virginia's Clerk of Court and it got me wondering what other state and local special elections are taking place that are worth our notice. With the help of my amazing Facebook friends and wider social media network here is a by-no-means-exhaustive list of special elections taking place across the country! Please feel free to message me to add your own!

Statewide/Federal

Alabama- Alabama's new Governor, Kay Ivey has set the date for a special election to replace a one Jeffrey Beauregard Sessions (now US Attorney General, God help us) in the US Senate. The seat is currently being held by Republican Luther Strange. The primary will be August 15th and the general December 12th. Alabama is R+14.

Georgia- See above. The district is R+8.

Montana- To replace former Congressman Ryan Zinke for Montana's At-Large congressional seat. Zinke is now Secretary of the Interior. Rob Quist is the Democratic nominee. The special election is on May 25th. The district is R+11.

South Carolina- To replace Congressman Mick Mulvaney, now the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. The primary is May 2nd and the special election June 20th. The district is R+9.

State and Local

Florida- Special election to replace Frank Artiles, SD 41. You can read about why he resigned this week here. The resignation is so recent that a date has yet to be set, but here is a list of potential candidates.

New Hampshire- After the death of an incumbent State Senator a primary will be held for New Hampshire State Senate District 16 on June 6th followed by a general election on July 25.

New York- There will be a May 23rd special election for New York State Assembly District 9, which is on Long Island. Democrat Christine Pellegrino has an uphill battle.

Rhode Island- Special election to replace resigning Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed of the 13th district. There will be a July 18th primary and an August 22nd general election.

Tennessee- Special election to replace Mark Lovell, HD 95. A primary will take place this Thursday, April 27th and the general election will be on June 15th.

Trump's pick for Army Secretary Mark Green, who says stuff like this about transgender people and represents SD 22 is expected to resign this week which would will trigger an "August-ish" special election.

Washington State- Democrat Manka Dhingra is running in the Senate District 45 special election, being held to replace a legislator who died last year. This race is especially important because it is likely to determine the balance of power in the Washington State Senate. The election will take place in November.

Please note these are not all the special elections going on in the US, just those you thought were noteworthy. You tell me, who else should we be talking about? You can find an addition list, although still not a complete one, of state legislative special elections here.

Shout outs of course to Lincoln and Omaha Nebraska (both in May!), New York City, Atlanta, LA, New Jersey and Virginia all of which have elections this year, although not "specials."

Hands Down My Favorite Conversation on Twitter Ever

I thought I was geeking out when Joshua Lyman tweeted me, but this is a whole other kind of surreal, mostly in its greatness.

As you may remember, earlier this month I posted about an ad from fellow Jumbo and Congressional candidate, Carl Sciortino, who is running in the special election to replace Ed Markey. At the time I was promoting the ad, not the candidate, but after this convo I am all in for Carl Sciortino.

It all began when my first boss on campaigns and good friend, who we will call M because he doesn't know how the internet works, responded on twitter to my post. M recently transitioned to being a Chief of Staff for a Congressman who we will call Rep. X, because I think that is a cool name. JC refers to M's predecessor.

Okay that's awesome, right? But it gets so much better.

And to top it off, M's boss, who is my favorite Congressional tweeter.

Just A+ to everyone here, the campaign staff, the Congressman, the future Congressman, the future spouse of Congressman. This is why I love campaign people. Go Carl!

If You Only Watch One Political Ad Today

Carl Scortino (a Tufts Alum! Go Jumbos!) is running in the Massachusetts special primary to replace now Senator Ed Markey in Congress. Who is doing his media? Brilliant.

It's Election O'Clock Somewhere: Texas State Senate 6

And...speaking of Texas, it's always election o'clock somewhere! In a West Wing-esque show of democracy, State Senator Mario Gallegos died of liver disease in October and was posthumously elected in November's general election.

As expected, today's special election to replace Senator Gallegos resulted in a run-off between two Democrats: Former Harris County Commissioner/City Controller Sylvia Garcia and State Representative Carol Alvarado, who has been endorsed by Gallegos' family. Interestingly State Senate District 6 has the lowest voter turnout of any of State Senate District in Texas. The runoff, which must be set by Texas Governor Rick Perry, is expected to take place in either February or March.

The Silver Lining for Wisconsin

I don't like when my friends lose. I really like my friends and I really like most of the things they stand for and I don't want them to be disheartened. For anyone who is upset about the Wisconsin results yesterday, I've copied and linked to some required reading below. The most salient point is that voters don't necessarily agree with Walker, they just disagree with the recall. Chin up, Badger State!

Top Ten Silver Linings for Democrats in Wisconsin Outcome

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s victory in the recall gubernatorial election campaign over his Democratic Party rival is being read like tea leaves with regard to the national presidential campaign. This argument from the local to the national is always an error, and there are many reasons to believe that the results in Wisconsin tell us very little about the national mood. The telling exit poll is here So here are the reasons otherwise disheartened Democrats might take heart.

1. 51% of voters in the recall support Barack Obama, only 44% support Mitt Romney.

2. Democrat Tom Barrett’s loss and the damage done the labor union movement may scare and therefore mobilize Democratic voters in the fall.

3. While the Democratic Party and labor suffered a defeat, the radical Republican agenda promoted by the Koch brothers through Walker energized crowd politics and made a link between Wisconsin and Egypt’s Tahrir Square protesters, boding well for activism on the left going forward.

4. Too much should not be read into Walker’s victory. About 10% of Wisconsin voters do not believe in recalls. In addition, some 60% of Wisconsin voters said in exit polls that they did not believe a recall should be used against a governor for anything less than criminal misconduct. No one alleged that Walker is corrupt in a criminal way, despite his clear dependence on Koch brother campaign monies. That is, the recall effort, being based on politics rather than corruption, offended the state political culture.

5. 51% of voters in the recall support labor unions in general, but a majority of the voters approved of the end of collective bargaining rights for state employees in particular. The vote wasn’t about labor, but about the relationship of Wisonsins to their government workers, including teachers, etc.

6. Only 35% of the voters in the recall identified themselves as conservatives

7. Walker and co. spent $45.6 million on his campaign by May 21, whereas challenger Tom Barrett and his supporters only spent $17.9 million. And 2/3s of Walker’s money came from outside the state. There won’t be that kind of disparity in campaign financing in the national election.

8. Barrett had already lost big to Walker in 2010, getting only 36% of the vote. He just isn’t that popular on a statewide basis and the Dems were foolish to have him lead the recall effort.

9. It may be that John Lehman won his race for the Wisconsin Senate, in which case the recall election cost the Republicans control of that body, putting an impediment in Walker’s ability to push through any further radical rightwing policies.

10. Walker was forced to face a recall election and may have lost his state senate, which will give other right wing politicians pause in pursuing radical agendas at the instigation of the Koch brothers.

How can you replace Weiner?

Oh hey. I've been so busy that I actually forgot we have a special election going on, right here in my new/old home state! It is a crying shame that we are even in this position because Anthony Weiner should never have resigned. Not that tweeting your penis is behavior fitting of a Congressman (or anyone), but neither is lying about global warming and they do that all the time. I've met David Weprin and well...let's just say I found him less than charming and not just because he looks like a villian in a childrens movie (SRSLY.) However, I firmly believe that that seat needs to be held by a Democrat... (specifically Anthony Weiner but what's done is done) and that we cannot afford to lose any more seats, so if you live in that district make sure to vote on this Tues the 13th!

Alas, Weiner! We hardly knew ye!