Down ballot races
We don’t want to neglect the down ballot contests. Good government requires good people at all levels. The contests are too many to catalog here, and as the saying goes, all politics is local.
CQ Politics highlights the following legislative battlegrounds that should be of interest to our readers:
Colorado (House and Senate). Democrats presently hold a 35-30 advantage in the House and an 18-17 lead in the Senate. They would like to expand those majorities in November and also install Democrat Bill Ritter as governor. Ritter, a former Denver district attorney, is polling well against Republican Rep. Bob Beauprez.Montana (House). The state House is split 50-50 (but has a Democratic Speaker because Montana law requires the Speaker to be of the same party as Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer).
Oregon (House). Democrats, who control the governorship and the Senate, are seeking to erase the GOP’s 33-27 majority in the House.
The article suggests that Democratic prospects are good for these and similar elections this November.
USA Today highlights the Secretary of State contests in Colorado, Nevada, California, and New Mexico, among others.
Winning at the local level is a precursor to winning nationally, but prosaic as it may be, the most important thing is to have good people in public offices--honest, hardworking, intelligent, and pragmatic people, men and women who can get things done for the common good. Of course, since the Secretary of State counts the votes, honesty and fairness are paramount qualifications for that position. The Secretary of State, governor, and the legislature can assure that we have clean elections with a verifiable paper trail, or, if the offices fall into the wrong hands, they can corrupt the very foundations of democracy.
Leo Brown | August 24, 2006 | Comment on This Post (0 so far) |
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(and yes, we know that sometimes they're very, very wrong. Other times, they're right on.)
