Wisconsin
By Eric Ostermeier on February 17, 2009
Just like Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty would make history in the Gopher State if he won a third term (making him the longest ever serving Governor in the state), Governor Jim Doyle would also make history in Wisconsin if he should run and win a third term. A successful...
By Eric Ostermeier on February 5, 2009
As December’s unemployment numbers demonstrate, Minnesota continues to endure a skyrocketing rate of job losses, especially when compared to its neighbors to the south and west. To the west, North Dakota and South Dakota have the second and third lowest unemployment rates in the nation, at 3.5 percent and 3.9...
By Eric Ostermeier on February 2, 2009
From the rising unemployment numbers to the state budget crisis, the news in Minnesota seems to be getting worse and worse. Adding insult to injury came the recent news last week that Minneapolis ranked as the fourth least desirable metropolitan area to where Americans would like to move out of...
By Eric Ostermeier on January 27, 2009
Barack Obama is officially in the ‘honeymoon phase’ of his presidency – the 44th president is just one week into his administration with approval ratings through the roof (67 percent in the latest Gallup survey, with just 14 percent disapproving). It is no surprise to learn that Democrats and independents...
By Eric Ostermeier on January 14, 2009
On Tuesday, Minnesota Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty and Wisconsin Democratic Governor Jim Doyle signed executive orders calling for department heads to identify, by the end of February, "Specific activities, programs, and services ... for potential cooperative service arrangements." The orders were signed to create "Significant improvements to the delivery and...
By Eric Ostermeier on January 10, 2009
In a year that has seen rising unemployment, a volatile stock market, and increasing state and federal budget deficits, the backlash on talk radio and in print against legislators in D.C. and at state capitols for receiving pay raises has been pronounced. The idea that the nation’s legislators who are...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 30, 2008
As Minnesota gears up for congressional and legislative redistricting in the next few years, as well as the possible loss of a U.S. House seat, the Gopher State can take some pride in the fact that its U.S. House contests continue to be more competitive than the national average by...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 16, 2008
Minnesota voters, buoyed perhaps both by a strong sense of civic duty, a high interest in politics, and a little thing called same-day registration, have once again led the country in voter turnout in the 2008 election. The Gopher State has now topped the country in turnout in seven straight...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 12, 2008
In a follow-up to yesterday’s discussion of the 2012 projected reapportionment, Smart Politics presents two tables to illustrate the diminishing political influence of Minnesota and the Upper Midwestern battleground states in the U.S. House as a result of population shifts in the United States. Table 1 demonstrates how the projected...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 3, 2008
The Upper Midwest is home to a disproportionate amount of power when it comes to its Representatives in the U.S. House. Three of the twenty-one House Committee chairs hail from Minnesota and Wisconsin, with two of those, DFL Congressmen Jim Oberstar (MN-08) and Democratic Congressman David Obey (WI-07) each...
By Eric Ostermeier on November 14, 2008
With its takeover of the State Assembly last week, Democrats now control both legislative chambers and the governor’s office in the Badger State for the first time since the 1984 election. Wisconsin Democrats were able to accomplish in 2008 what Republicans have done only one time since the 1968 election...
By Eric Ostermeier on November 5, 2008
Barack Obama’s sweep through most of the Midwest on Tuesday night was perhaps most notable for his victory in Indiana. But there were other historical oddities with Obama’s victory that occurred in the region, one of which was that, for the first time since 1936, a Democratic presidential nominee had...
By Eric Ostermeier on November 5, 2008
As projected at Smart Politics on Monday, the Democratic Party has taken back control of the Wisconsin Assembly, for the first time since 1992. Democrats appear to have picked up five seats (with 1st term Democrat Kim Hixon’s defense of his 43rd District still not called): Districts 2, 42, 57,...
By Eric Ostermeier on November 4, 2008
To track updated state and federal election results for the Upper Midwest, visit these links: Iowa: Secretary of State Minnesota: Secretary of State South Dakota: Secretary of State Wisconsin: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel...
By Eric Ostermeier on November 3, 2008
Through November 3rd, Smart Politics will be running a series of electoral projections for Upper Midwestern federal and state governmental contests. The seventh projections in the series are State Assembly races in the State of Wisconsin. Wisconsin: State Assembly. Balance of power: Republicans (51 to 47; 1 independent) 2006 Results:...
By Eric Ostermeier on November 3, 2008
Through November 3rd, Smart Politics will be running a series of electoral projections for Upper Midwestern federal and state governmental contests. The sixth projections in the series are State Senate races in the State of Wisconsin. Wisconsin: State Senate. Balance of power: Democrats (17 to 14; 2 vacancies) 2006 Results:...
By Eric Ostermeier on November 2, 2008
Through November 3rd, Smart Politics will be running a series of electoral projections for Upper Midwestern federal and state governmental contests. The third projections in the series are federal races in the State of Wisconsin. Wisconsin: President. John McCain has not led in a non-partisan public poll in Wisconsin since...
By Eric Ostermeier on October 15, 2008
Smart Politics is running a series of election profiles of all the Upper Midwestern U.S. Senate and U.S. House races leading up to the November 4th elections. The series will culminate with Smart Politics' official projections. The sixteenth profile in the series is Wisconsin's 8th Congressional District race. Candidates: Democrat:...
By Eric Ostermeier on October 13, 2008
Smart Politics is running a series of election profiles of all the Upper Midwestern U.S. Senate and U.S. House races leading up to the November 4th elections. The series will culminate with Smart Politics' official projections. The fifteenth profile in the series is Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District race. Candidates: Democrat:...
By Eric Ostermeier on October 11, 2008
Smart Politics is running a series of election profiles of all the Upper Midwestern U.S. Senate and U.S. House races leading up to the November 4th elections. The series will culminate with Smart Politics' official projections. The fourteenth profile in the series is Wisconsin's 6th Congressional District race. Candidates: Republican:...
